Weirdest Kids in Town
by Frank Kjesus
Summary: In Waterbury, Connecticut a young teacher hopelessly tries to get a ragtag bunch of kids to make music together. Will he succeed or are they just too different to work? Submit a character and we'll find out! SYOC OPEN (needs side-characters)
1. Prologue

Nervously Elliott Scott headed for the principal's office. Trying to seem more confident than he was the young teacher took a deep breath before knocking on the wooden door.

"Come in," a brisk voice sounded and Elliott took a deep breath before opening the door. Behind a mahogany desk sat a middle-aged woman with her blonde hair gathered in a tight bun at her neck. She would have been quite beautiful if she hadn't looked so stern and not worn such manly clothes. Suits with shoulder pads weren't really working for her, especially not in such a hideous shade of green. She finally looked up from her computer and set her cool crystal blue glare at the brunet. "Ah, Mr. Scott, there you are!"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now, it has come to my attention that you need extra money and you wish to teach some extra classes? Is that right?"

"Yes, that's right," the man replied, smiling nervously. He had recently moved out from the apartment he had shared with his girlfriend, or currently his ex-girlfriend, and moved into his parents' house. Understandably a house he'd like to get out of. "I was thinking that I might coach the football team, or pick up an extra janitorial shift or maybe-"

"No, that is out of the question," the woman sharply cut him off. Elliott felt his heart sink at the thought of staying with his parents and annoying younger sister for a longer time than necessary. "I do, however, have a position open for you, if you're willing?"

"Yes, anything!"

"Fine, you are going to coach a club most dear to my heart. A club that has opened the minds of many students and which has nurtured countless talents," the woman said, with a look resembling happiness. "You will be coaching the Glee Club!"

* * *

Hey, guys! Because I need a creative outlet I wanted to make a Glee SYOC. So this is pretty much your basic SYOC where you submit characters and I write a story with them. Pretty simple. This is set in Waterbury, Connecticut instead of Lima, Ohio. So there will be no Will, Rachel, Marley, Sue or anyone else we know (perhaps there will be small appearances form some of them).

**Rules:**

- No Mary Sues.

- Send by PM only! No characters submitted by review will be accepted.

- Be interesting, detailed and real. I want characters that have multiple layers I can explore, but that are believable (at least to some extent).

- Relatives of the New Directions are fine (as long as it's believable).

- Put "Chocolate chip cookies are the best" somewhere in your form to prove you've read this.

**Requests:**

- Not everyone is going to love music from the beginning. Think of the first season of glee, there were lots of people that joined late in the semester, so not everyone will be joining at once.

- Different ethnicities are nice. (not required, but a cast that's not 95% white would be nice)

- Be original.

- Boys would also be nice.

- Something other than the daughter having to run the household because of distant parents/guardians would also be nice. As well as something other than someone being invisible in their own house. (there's nothing wrong with a character with that kind of background I've just recieved multiple characters in that situation.

**Student form:**

Full Name (Including Middle):

Nicknames:

Insulting Nicknames:

Age:

Grade:

Gender:

Sexuality:

Family: (names, ages, look-a-likes and preferably a little bit about them)

Homelife: (the dynamic of the family)

History:

Personality (Detailed Please):

Celebrity Look-a-Like: (please pick someone somewhat believable as that age)

Celebrity Sing-a-like:

Appearance (Height, Weight, Eye Color, etc.):

Clothing Style:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Quirks:

Goals/Dreams:

Clique:

Clubs/Teams:

What do they look for in their relationships (friends and/or dating):

V or No V (if no, how and when did they lose it?):

Audition Song:

Other Songs (At least 5):

Musical preference:

Theme Ideas for Glee Club:

Storylines (At least 3):

Anything Else: (fears, secrets, ideas for how the join the club, pets, etc.)

* * *

By the way, I also need some teachers. Elliott Scott, a young new teacher at the school, coaches the glee club. Orlando Bloom portrays him.

**Teacher form:**

Full Name (Including Middle):

Nicknames: (please include instulting ones too)

Age:

Gender:

Sexuality:

Subject they teach: (football coach, English teacher, etc.)

Personality (Detailed Please):

Celebrity Look-a-Like:

Appearance (Height, Weight, Eye Color, etc.):

Clothing Style:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Quirks:

Goals/Dreams:

V or No V (in no, how and when did they lose it?):

Celebrity Sing-a-Like: (if they have one)

Theme Ideas for Glee Club:

Storylines: (not required, but I prefer them)

Anything Else:


	2. Teaser and author's note

Hey, guys!

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this is not the cast list (not even a temporary one because nothing is set in stone yet). I just wanted to let you all know that I've gotten some really good characters, but that many of them have been pretty much the same. There are lots of sob stories, absent parents, sarcastic kids, wallflowers and girls. So, I just thought I would let you all know that I want something other than that. I'd like some guys (jocks would be appreciated) and some cheerleaders (mean ones would be awesome). I also need side-characters, so non-glee clubbers would be great. Let your imagination go wild! Give me a nerd with a wicked rocker's voice, a lesbian pageant queen, etc. If you're unsure about anything you are free to ask me, my inbox is always open

I'm also trying to figure out what the school musical is going to be, so if you have any suggestions please PM me. Also, there is a poll on my profile where you can vote for the musical you want them to do. I have also made a tumblr for the story, so if you want to check that out the link is on my profile.

* * *

"Miss Fraser," principal Michaels locked her cold blue eyes on the brunette sitting in the chair opposite of her. The junior met the gaze without blinking, holding the blonde's eyes until the principal spoke again. "You do realize that your current outfit breaks several of the school's dress codes?"

The girl simple shrugged in response, causing the woman to sigh.

"Your shorts are at least two inches shorter than we allow and that is a monstrous amount of cleavage you are displaying," principal Michaels explained in a defeated tone of voice while massaging her forehead with three fingers. "Miss Fraser, this is the fifth time you've been in my office for inappropriate attire, and it's only the third day!"

Again the girl shrugged with a slight roll of her eyes.

"You do realize that if you keep this up I will have no choice but to expel you," the woman said leaning back to enjoy the look of desperate realization hitting the teen in front of her.

"What? You're going to expel me for wearing clothes? There has got to be some sort law against that!"

"I'm afraid there isn't," the principal continued, but stopped for a moment as if a thought hit her. "As a matter of fact I am going to have to suspend you for about two months, just for the amount of times you've been here this past week." The girl was about to protest, but the principal held up a hand to stop her. "There is, however," she leaned forward placing her elbows on the desk and adjusting the collar of her dress shirt. "Another way you can be punished, Miss Fraser."

* * *

Characters featured:

Audrey Fraser – Lauren Jauregui

Lauren Michaels – Kate Blanchett


	3. 1 Begin at the Beginning

**AN: I'm really sorry guys, I posted the wrong thing at first! I feel like a huge idiot right now, but please don't let the mess of a thing I posted earlier ruin this experience for you. Here's the real deal.**

**AN: Hey guys! So, here's the first chapter. I hope you all like competitions, because I've got a couple for you if you'll just read the other author's note at the bottom. Please take the time to read that, there's a lot of info down there.**

** Not every accepted character will appear here, and I am still accepting characters so feel free to submit more characters.**

* * *

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop."

Lewis Carroll

* * *

Looking over the sheet in his hand one final time Elliot sighed in defeat as he pinned it to the bulletin board. He took one last look at the sheet and prayed to whichever God there was that someone would sign up so he wouldn't have to live with his father, sister and his father's annoying fiancée for another day. Heading towards the teachers' lounge for lunch he sent one last look to the list.

Just as Elliot left an Indian girl walked up to the board and signed her name on a couple of the sign-up sheets before her eyes landed on the one Elliot had pinned up just a few moments earlier. Her brown eyes and white smile widened before she sprinted off in another direction.

* * *

"Miss Fraser," principal Michaels locked her cold blue eyes on the brunette sitting in the chair opposite of her. The junior met the gaze without blinking, holding the blonde's eyes until the principal spoke again. "You do realize that your current outfit breaks several of the school's dress codes?"

The girl simple shrugged in response, causing the woman to sigh.

"Your shorts are at least two inches shorter than we allow and that is a monstrous amount of cleavage you are displaying," principal Michaels explained in a defeated tone of voice while massaging her forehead with three fingers. "Miss Fraser, this is the fifth time you've been in my office for inappropriate attire, and it's only the third day!"

Again the girl shrugged with a slight roll of her eyes.

"You do realize that if you keep this up I will have no choice but to expel you," the woman said leaning back to enjoy the look of desperate realization hitting the teen in front of her.

"What? You're going to expel me for wearing clothes? There has got to be some sort law against that!"

"I'm afraid there isn't," the principal continued, but stopped for a moment as if a thought hit her. "As a matter of fact I am going to have to suspend you for about two months, just for the amount of times you've been here this past week." The girl was about to protest, but the principal held up a hand to stop her. "There is, however," she leaned forward placing her elbows on the desk and adjusting the collar of her dress shirt. "Another way you can be punished, Miss Fraser."

* * *

"Hi, Elliot, right?" Elliot looked up from his lunch to see a pale hand extended toward him. On the other side of that hand was a girl with the biggest, brightest blue eyes he had ever seen covered by black-framed glasses. Before he could reply or even give her his hand she had continued talking in a high, enthusiastic voice. "I'm Laurie and I teach drama here, so we'll be doing the musical together! Because you're coaching glee now, right? I'm so excited about this, I have like a million ideas!"

"Oh, that's great! I didn't even-"

"I'm thinking maybe Fame, or RENT, or In the Heights, or maybe Hairspray!" the woman talked a mile-a-minute, and hardly stopped for breath. Somehow she managed to talk so fast without her words blurring and without stopping smiling. "I mean, I don't mean to dictate what we do, because you probably have ideas too and we have to agree, I mean this isn't South Korea, right?"

It took Elliot about half a minute to even realize the woman wanted a response.

"Uhm, yeah sure, I didn't actually know I had anything to do with the musical until now," Elliot admitted and watched as the raven-haired girl's expression went from ecstatic to horror-stricken.

"What! You didn't know?" she exclaimed looking shocked. She nearly slammed her "Star Wars" lunch box unto the table as she sat down in the chair beside Elliot. "I thought everyone knew that it's the glee club director and the drama teacher's responsibility to direct the musical! Oh, anyway, now you know and I'm sure we'll make a great team!"

"Well, I've never actually directed anything before-"

"You haven't? Oh, don't worry, I've directed plenty! Before you came around I always directed the musical alone because there wasn't a glee club, so I'd make my brother choreograph. He's awesome! Have you met him? His name is Zeke and he's awesome!"

"Well, I'm sure he is," Elliot chuckled at the other teacher's enthusiasm.

"Oh, there he is! Hey, Zeke, over here!" the blue-eyed woman called out to a dapper man with short brown hair. The man turned toward them and his face changed into an expression reminding a lot of a father whose daughter had just jumped into a puddle wearing her Sunday best. "Zeke, this is Elliot, he's directing the glee club! Oh, and he just started working here!"

The men politely introduced themselves as Elliot Scott and Ezekiel Buchannan.

"We were just talking about how awesome it'll be to do the musical together! We're thinking either Anything Goes or Chicago, but we're not sure yet. You're still on board to choreograph, right? Because I had this idea for-"

"Laurie, don't you have class in like two minutes?"

"No, I've still got plenty of-"As she glanced at her bright pink watch her already big eyes widened and she nearly sprinted out of the teachers' lounge with her lunch box in tow only throwing a quick "bye, guys!" over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry about her, she's…" Zeke paused to find the right word to describe his sister. "Excitable."

* * *

"Jay!" An Indian girl called out to an Indian boy with long shaggy hair. He turned his head toward the sound and stuffed one of his books into his messenger bag as the brunette walked up to him. "Guess what I just found?"

"A pink unicorn!" Jay said with faux enthusiasm and an exaggerated smile. His friend returned it with a scowl.

"No, a way for you to get DJ-ing jobs!"

"I have DJ-ing jobs," the boy responded, looking a little offended as he took out another book and read the title on the cover before putting it in his bag.

"Yeah, but you're always complaining about not getting more jobs. You know, how it's always the same lame parties and bar mitzvahs," she replied eagerly. "But I just found a way for people who actually _like_ music to hear it, and you'll get to do your mash-up thingies live and stuff!"

"I've told you, I don't need you to look for-"

"Do you want to hear my idea, or not?"

"Yeah, fine. What is it?"

"Glee club!" The girl grinned from ear to ear while the boy simple raised his eyebrows.

"Glee club?"

"Glee club," she smiled looking as proud as if she had invented a way of turning air into chocolate.

"How about no?"

"What! Come on, you're always talking about how much you want people to notice your songs," she argued. "And glee club seems like fun!"

"If it's so fun, then why don't you join?"

"Because I can't sing, or dance or whatever else you do in a glee club," the tan girl replied, looking genuinely upset that she couldn't join and Jay wouldn't. "But you can, so why don't you?"

"Because I'm not sure glee club is my thing and you _are not_ such a bad singer," Jay responded taking one last book out of his locker.

"But give it a try, I'm sure you'll love it!" the girl urged him, when he didn't respond she tried giving him puppy dog eyes and a pout. "Please? For me?"

Looking into the girl's big deep brown eyes he tried to resist giving into her. "Please?"

"Okay, fine," he sighed as the girl's face broke into a huge smile and she threw herself around his neck.

"I knew you'd say yes!" The girl beamed as she let go of the boy. "By the way, we have a date on Friday. I told my parents you're taking me to a movie, so pick me up at seven."

"Okay, whatever you say," the boy said as he closed his locker and offered his arm to walk the girl to class.

* * *

After finally finishing trying to explain how to conjugate Spanish verbs to a class of uninterested freshmen, Elliot Scott was finally ready for glee club auditions. Though he had dreaded the auditions from the moment he hung up the sign-up sheet he was now rather excited. Though there were only five names on the list (one of which was his sister's and one which he knew was forced) he figured there was bound to be plenty of people that just dropped in. Not everyone cared to sign their name, right? At least he hoped so.

"Hi, curly," a high-pitched voice chimed as the raven-haired woman from lunch (Lily, was it?) walked over to the piano and sat down.

"Uhm, hi," Elliot replied a bit perplexed at the colorfully dressed woman's presence.

"I'm so excited, aren't you excited? I love auditions, they're like my favorite part of the year!" She beamed from her seat on the piano bench.

"Yeah, but, not to be rude," the 27-year-old teacher began from his seat in the audience, speaking extra quickly to make sure the bespectacled woman wouldn't interrupt him. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm playing back-up for the students, you didn't know?" Laurie answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but Elliot hadn't had a clue she did that and shook his head. "You know nothing, Jon Snow."

Elliot just sent her a blank look.

"Oh, come one! Game of Thrones! Jon Snow! You know, because you don't know anything and you've got the same adorable curls as Kit Harrington!" Laurie tried, but Elliot's face remained blank. "You seriously need to get out less and watch more TV!"

"Uhm, hi," a voice called out from the back of the auditorium. The two teachers turned to see a lean and tan boy walk casually towards them. He was dressed nicely, but like a hipster and he had headphones around his neck. Behind him trailed two other kids.

"Hey, are you all auditioning?" Elliot asked as the three kids walked up the stairs to the stage. He was really hoping that all four were auditioning because that would mean that at least three of the five people on his list had showed.

"No, just me," Jay, the Indian boy, said. "I just need some back-up for my audition song."

"Oh, what are you singing? Is it up-beat or soulful, because I can do either. Do you want me to play guitar or piano, because I do both-"

"Actually, I've got all the music here," the shaggy-haired boy replied holding up a memory stick. Laurie looked heartbroken and slumped in her seat. "This is actually a mashup that I made of different songs, but it's long so we'll just to the beginning. The rest is also on here."

"Okay then, begin when you're ready," Elliot told the kids on stage as the shortest boy plugged the memory stick into his computer and the tallest boy near-immediately began singing.

**Topher: I'm at the payphone  
**_Indie: The sun goes down_  
_ The stars come out_  
Jay: Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby, let me know  
**T: Where are the times gone**  
_My universe_  
_Will never be the same_  
Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby  
Pop Danthology  
Here we go  
_All I wanna do is love your body  
_Oooh baby baby ooh baby baby_  
_I had a  
_Tonigh's your lucky night, I know you want it_  
Oooh baby baby ooh baby baby**  
I had a way then losing it all on my own**  
_I find it so stupid  
So why should I hide_  
**Don't wake me uuuuuuuuuuuuup**  
_That I love to make love to you baby_  
Sorry for party rocking  
**Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck,  
some nights, I call it a draw.  
**_What doesn't kill you makes you stronger  
Stand a little taller  
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone_  
**Now I'm at the payphone  
**Yo, hell yeah, dirty bass  
Ghetto girl, you drive me cray  
Hell yeah, dirty bass  
_Oh oh oh oh_  
**Let's go  
**Turn up the music,  
cause this song just came on  
I'm talking here and now  
I'm talking here and now  
**Let's go!**  
Turn up the music,  
if they try to turn us down  
I'm talking here and now  
I'm talking here and now  
It's not about what you've done  
It's about what you´re doing  
**Cross my heart and I hope to die  
**It's all about where you going  
No matter where you've been  
**That I'll only stay with you one more night**  
Let's go!  
_Hey, I just met you  
And this is crazy  
But here's my number  
So call me, maybe  
_**I think I've finally had enough, I think I maybe think too much  
I think this might be it for us (blow me one last kiss)  
**Let's go!  
Hey, I heard you were a wild one  
Oooh  
_Cause that's just how we do_  
Let's go!  
_Dirty dancing in the moonlight  
Take me down like I'm a domino_  
Let's go!

After several moments of silence caused by pure awe from the two teachers they eventually began clapping.

"Wow, that was awesome! And confusing!" Elliot exclaimed, causing the shorter boy to grin proudly. Even though the girl had been a little off-key, the boys did amazing and the song itself was just mind-blowing. "How did you even do that?"

"What can I say, I have a talent for musical matchmaking," the Indian boy grinned confidently with a suave shrug of his shoulders.

"And you two are sure you don't want to join?" Elliot asked hopefully. "We really could use voices like yours."

"Sorry, Mr. Scott, but as you heard I'm not really a good singer and I'm an even worse dancer." The girl shrugged. "I just came to help out my boy, Jay!" "Glee isn't really my thing, I'm more of a straight play kind of guy," Topher reasoned.

"Okay, suit yourselves, but if you change your minds, the door is always open."

* * *

A fuming Audrey Fraser stepped out of the principal's office and nearly ran over the tall boy standing on the other side of the door waiting for her.

"Whoa there!" The boy laughed as the brunette kept walking away from the office. Luckily for him he was a lot taller than she was and easily caught up to her. "Hey, wait up! What did she say that was so bad?"

"Nothing, she's just making me join the stupid glee club," Audrey sighed as she stopped to let the boy walk up next to her before they continued walking together. "It was either that or two months of suspension."

"Oh, poor little Audrey has to sing for two months-"

"She didn't say two months, Topher, I might have to be there all year!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's not going to be that bad," the dark-haired boy said placing an arm around the girl's slim shoulders. Audrey ignored the somersault her stomach did at the gesture.

"It's probably better than suspension, though, don't you think?"

"Probably, at least it would be if you joined with me?" She chimed looking up at the boy with a bright smile and pleading eyes.

"Nah, glee's not really my thing," the boy responded letting his arm drop from the brunette's shoulders. Audrey felt her heart sting a little as the other junior threw a glance at his watch and immediately stopped.

"Oh, shoot! I've got math like ten minutes ago!" He exclaimed as he began hurrying down the hallway not even saying "bye" to the girl.

"Your math class is that way," Audrey called after him pointing in the opposite direction as the other junior turned on his heel and began hurrying the other way.

"I knew that," he said walking past her. "Oh, and put some clothes on, you naked hipster you!"

Audrey chuckled watching the shaggy haired boy turn a corner and disappear from her sight. He really was something else.

_A tornado flew around my room before you came_

_Excuse the mess it made, it usually doesn't rain_

_In Southern California, much like Arizona_

_My eyes don't shed tears, but, boy, they bawl_

She hadn't been very close with Christopher until the second semester of sophomore year. They'd been seated next to each other in English class and the boy's humor had gotten to her.

_When I'm thinkin' 'bout you (ooh, no, no, no)_

_I've been thinkin' 'bout you (you know, know, know)_

_I've been thinkin' 'bout you_

_Do you think about me still?_

_Do ya, do ya?_

They had been in a flirty kind of friendship all summer and at a party in early August they had both been drunk out of their minds. The next morning they woke up in bed together without their clothes.

_Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?_

_'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)_

It wasn't that she was in love with him or anything; at least she didn't think she was in love with him and he clearly wasn't in love with her. After the hook-up he hadn't even seemed weirded out and she didn't want to make it awkward by acting like it meant something.

_Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?_

_'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)_

_No, I don't like you, I just thought you were cool_

_Enough to kick it_

_Got a beach house I could sell you in Idaho_

_Since you think I don't love you, I just thought you were cute_

_That's why I kissed you_

_Got a fighter jet, I don't get to fly it, though_

Keeping eye contact with the curly-haired teacher Audrey stood in the auditorium gripping the microphone with both hands. She didn't feel too weird while standing alone, except for the guy playing the guitar behind her, singing her heart out to a man she had hardly seen before.

_I'm lyin' down thinkin' 'bout you (ooh, no, no, no)_

_I've been thinkin' 'bout you (you know, know, know)_

_I've been thinkin' 'bout you_

_Do you think about me still?_

_Do ya, do ya?_

_Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?_

_'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)_

_Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?_

_'Cause I been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)_

Audrey stood a distance away looking at Topher who sat with his theatre geek friends in the cafeteria. Leaning against one of the pillars of the spacious room she studied the junior's face as he laughed heartily. The light hit his hair just right, setting off the golden undertones in it. He turned his head in her direction and sent her a wink, but turned back to his friend before he could see her return it with a smile.

_Yes, of course_

_I remember, how could I forget (how could I forget)?_

_How you feel (how you feel)?_

_You know you were my first time (time)._

_A new feel_

_It won't ever get old, not in my soul,_

_Not in my spirit, keep it alive (spirit, keep it alive)_

_We'll go down this road_

_'Til it turns from color to black and white_

_Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?_

_'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)_

_Or do you not think so far ahead (ahead)?_

_'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever (Oooh, oooh)_

She gently nodded her head toward the teacher as she finished the song, feeling both drained and full.

* * *

"I am so sorry I'm late, I promise it-"

"Mr. Collins, I'm sorry you're sorry, but it is the first day of class, please do not be late again," Miss Lacy Cho interrupted the junior while turning sharply toward the boy. She was a stern-looking Asian woman who looked more like a vampire groupie than a math teacher. It was probably due to her dark and edgy clothing and excessive use of eyeliner.

"Yes, Miss Cho. Really sorry."

"Fine, go sit next to- I'm sorry, what's your name?" The teacher asked a small girl with tan skin who sat next to the window on the right.

"Violetta Scott," the girl replied in a timid voice. The girl seemed to want to disappear into her hoodie when most of her classmates turned their heads toward her, as if the attention made her uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable with attention was not something Topher was used to, as he was usually the center of attention because of his jokes. Casually strolling down to the third row and sitting next to the girl, Christopher searched his backpack for his books and pencil case. When he didn't succeed in finding his pencil case he turned to the brunette next to him.

"Hey, sugar, you got a pencil?" he whispered to avoid the attention of the Asian teacher who was currently intensely writing something on the blackboard. Topher didn't understand any of it, but he figured it was important and that he should write it down. Not looking over at him the girl, probably a sophomore because he couldn't remember her from any other classes he had, reached inside her own black pencil case and handed him a perfectly sharpened pencil. "Thanks, I owe you one."

"Mr. Collins, anything you'd like to share with the class?" Miss Cho asked sharply as 23 heads turned to stare at him with pointed looks.

"I was just telling Ariel over here how lovely you look today," Christopher excised, sending the teacher a cheeky grin showing off his pearly white teeth.

The teacher smiled coldly back at him. "Nice try. Can you instead tell _me _the answer to this problem?"

"I don't know, miss, _can_ I?" The boy replied with another cheeky grin, leaning back in his seat enjoying the suppressed laughter from his class.

"Yes. You. Can." The teacher responded coldly with a clear punctuation after each word. "And it had better be right. Now, do you know the correct answer?"

Topher simply shook his head in defeat, figuring that there was no way he'd be able to solve the problem on the board. At least not when Miss Cho was looking at him like that.

"Fine. Anyone else?"

24 pairs of eyes looked down at their desks or blankly at the board, none of them intending to answer the teacher's question. Out of the corner of his eye Christopher noticed something moving and glanced to the side to see the tan girl beside him scribbling down what he assumed was the way to solve the problem.

"No one? Fine, x=24," the teacher quickly wrote down the answer on the board. Topher looked down to see what the quiet girl beside him had written; x=24. He sent her a quizzical look which she didn't see as she was too busy watching Miss Cho explain how to solve the problem.

* * *

Princeton Cub and Zoey Bennett were walking through the somewhat crowded halls looking for people to interview. The two freshmen had been assigned the typical assignment for freshmen joining the school News Paper; interviewing other students on what they did over the summer. While Prince didn't think it was too bad his companion couldn't think of a less exciting task.

"I can't believe we're stuck with this stupid interviewing job!" She complained to the boy who was an inch shorter than she was. "I mean, can you think something less interesting than watching a bunch of jocks and cheerleaders talk about how they spent their stupid summer at the beach or at one of their parents' seven mansions!"

"Well, if you don't want to interview the jocks and cheerleaders I'm sure we could interview-"

"What, no! We have to interview the popular kids, if not the other journalists won't think we have any guts at all!" The brunette said, contradicting herself. "Oh look, it's Jock-Ken and Barbie Big Boobs, we'll do them first."

Following the curly-haired rebel Prince turned on his camcorder and began filming as they approached the cheerleading captain and her newest boytoy.

"Emilina Schuester and Liam Mason, 'it-couple' here at Lucy Stone, head cheerleader and football player, how does it feel?" Zoey asked with a smile dripping of sarcasm, while she mentally added; "To be the biggest stereotype in history."

"It's great, I mean I'm dating the prettiest girl in school, I'm popular and the team is going to win the cup this year!" Mason answered, sending a pearly-white smile and wink to the camera. Zoey resisted the urge to puke.

"Yes, it's awesome. I'm so proud of my man," Lina added with a sugary sweet smile. "And us cheerleaders are totally going to rock Nationals this year!"

"And how did you two lovebirds spend your summer?" Zoey asked in a strained happy-voice through gritted teeth.

"We went to my parents' beach house in California and spent all day swimming in the ocean and sunbathing together. It was great!"

"I bet that's not all you did," Zoey mumbled, rolling her eyes. "Slut."

"What did you say?" the cheerleader asked her coldly, but without dropping her wide bright smile. "What was it that you called me?"

"Oh nothing, I was just telling the audience how much you too love spending time together with as little clothing on as possible." Zoey stated, dropping the faux friendly attitude completely.

"Listen up, caterpillar eyebrows," Lina hissed letting her brilliant smile fall and be replaced by a snarl. A worried Mason tried placing a hand on her should to calm her, but she sharply shrugged him off. "I don't know what _you_ think, but just because guys want _me _and not _you_, that gives you no right to come here and lie about me-"

"Lying? Are _you _calling _me_ a liar!" the taller girl exclaimed stepping closer to the shorter one with an outraged look on her face. She sharply pushed the other girl, who returned it with another harder push, which again was returned by another one until the girls were full on fighting.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Mason exclaimed as he grabbed his girlfriend around the waist and tried to pry her away from the curly-haired freshman who was being dragged away by the shorter boy. "Come on, calm down!"

"Come on, she's not worth it," Prince tried to calm his friend as she struggled against his grip. Finally Lina stopped struggling and looked pointedly at Zoey who stopped struggling for a moment.

"This is not over," the cheerleader stated as she grabbed her boyfriend's wrist, dragging him away. "Come, Mason!"

"Sorry," Mason mouthed over his shoulder to Princeton who returned it with a sympathetic shrug. Zoey had broken free of his grip and was currently trying to fix the especially messy state of her hair.

"So, did we get any good footage?"

* * *

"Hey, Tinkerbelle," Topher called out after the tiny brunette as she hurried out of the classroom on her way to her next class. The mousy girl turned and looked at him with big brown eyes. "Why didn't you answer?"

The girl stared at him blankly for a moment.

"In class, when Buffy the vampire slayer asked me that stupid question and no one could answer. I saw you write down the right answer."

Violetta shrugged noncommittally in reply. She struck Topher as the kind of person who doesn't want to stand out, who'd be perfectly happy if they blended in with the wallpaper.

" I mean, even though she looks like she'd be down with vampire banging, I doubt she can read your mind," the colorfully dressed boy joked. The girl smiled slightly, but shrugged again. "Well, I'll see you around."

* * *

"Hey, I'm Princeton," the short boy introduced himself. "And I'll be singing Adrian Hood's Brown Eyed Blues."

Laurie began playing a soft and mellow tune. The boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he began.

_She's got those eyes, those eyes_

_That'll see, right through you_

_When she leaves then I_

_I wanna leave, with her too_

_And she's on, my mind_

_Like all, all the time_

_When we touch, I go weak_

_And I can hardly speak_

Princeton could clearly envision a pair of dark brown eyes that could light up his day if he could only see her smile. They were warm yet distant and held so much mystery. He had the feeling that if he could just understand what those eyes hid he would hold the key to the girl behind them.

_And I hope that she thinks about me_

_'Cause I'm always thinking of her_

_(Always thinking of her)_

_I just wanna hold her hand, be her man_

_I wanna know if she'd take a chance_

_'Cause I'm still not revealing_

_'Cause I still get the feeling_

_That loving her, is a game i'll always lose_

_I got the brown-eyed blues_

He hadn't known her for too long, but he still wanted to know as much as possible about her. He wanted to know her family, where she grew up, her favorite color, her favorite book, everything.

_It's a shame, I didn't meet her before_

_'Cause now I wanna see her more than I should_

_Who's to blame, when she's always on my mind_

_And I'd see her all the time if I could_

_And I hope that she cares about me_

_'Cause I know that I care for her_

_I just wanna hold her hand, be her man_

_I wanna know if she'd take a chance_

_'Cause I'm still not revealing_

_'Cause I still get the feeling_

_That loving her, is a game i'll always lose_

_I got the brown-eyed blues_

_I don't wanna be with anybody else_

_Said she makes me take a good look at myself_

_She brings out the best in me_

_She doesn't think any less of me_

_When I do the wrong thing_

_She loves me for me and I can't explain_

He hadn't ever been in a relationship before, so he didn't really know how to go about that sort of thing. If he ever managed to actually become friends with a girl he'd usually be stuck in that friendzone.

_'Cause I'm still not revealing_

_'Cause I still get the feeling_

_That loving her, is a game i'll always lose_

_I got the brown-eyed blues_

_I just wanna hold her hand, be her man_

_I wanna know if she'd take a chance_

_'Cause I'm still not revealing_

_'Cause I still get the feeling_

_That loving her, is a game i'll always lose_

_I got the brown-eyed blues_

* * *

"L, do I really need to do this?" Violetta Scott asked her older brother as she stood on stage in the auditorium. She really didn't like people watching her, and though it was just her brother and some woman who looked nice enough, the teen really wasn't comfortable singing in front of them. She would probably never know how Elliot had convinced her to audition in the first place.

"Yes, Vi, you do," Elliot confirmed in a strict "teachers'" voice. The girl looked at him pleadingly, and thought he wouldn't budge he gave her a smile and told her in a softer tone that she did, but it would be okay.

With the knots in her stomach tying and untying uneasily, Violetta nodded to the strange-looking woman by the piano who began singing an upbeat and happy-sounding melody. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Violetta began singing in a high, yet somewhat strained voice.

_A smile is something special,_

_A ribbon is something rare,_

_So I'll be special and I'll be rare with a smile and a ribbon in my hair._

_To be a girl they notice,_

_Takes more than a fancy dress,_

_So I'll be noticed because I'll dress with a smile and a ribbon in my tresses..._

_The bigger my toothy grin is, the smaller my troubles grow_

_The louder I say I'm happy, the more I believe it's so_

Though the song essentially was a feel-good one, there was no way you could tell by watching Violetta as she sang. Though she did have a nice voice, albeit with lots of room for improvement, she sounded strained on the highest notes and her facial expression mimicked something alongside horror or general discomfort.

_So I'll have that extra something,_

_Because I know what to wear._

_So I'll be special and I'll be rare._

_I'll be something beyond compare._

_I'll be noticed because I'll wear a smile and a ribbon in my hair_

"Thanks, Vi, you did great," Elliot smiled at his little sister who seemed just as uncomfortable after finishing singing as she had before singing. The short girl in the oversized hoodie awkwardly bowed her head in brother's direction and shuffled out of the auditorium.

* * *

Emilina Schuester leaned against her locker as her boyfriend, Liam Mason, whispered sweet nothings into her ear. In her royal blue and deep green uniform Lina looked as hot as ever, something that Mason didn't let go unnoticed. The two had been dating all summer and were now known as Lucy Stone High School's 'it couple'. It wasn't much of a surprise really, with him as one of the studs on both the football and hockey team and her as the lead cheerleader with bigger breasts than anyone else at school.

"What do you have next period?" Mason asked as he leaned over the tiny junior with one arm against the locker, smiling suggestively. He clearly intended to skip his next class to make out with her in the janitor's closet. His girl was a lot more interesting than history anyway. He really appreciated the fact that he had been able to be with her for so long without making a completely fool of himself and screwing it up as he usually did.

"I have English," the girl said as she stood on her toes to reach up to the boy's face, she still lacked couple of inches, but he leaned down to come within kissing distance as she leaned in closer. He could feel her soft, warm breath on his lips and her small hand on his neck.

"Which I am not skipping to make out with you," she quickly said as she darted under the boy's arm and skipped a couple of meters away from him. It took Mason a couple moments to realize that the soft breath and small hand was gone, but when he heard the mischievous giggling to his left he put two and two together. Just as Lina was about to flit away from him he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close, holding her around the waist with both arms. The tall, dark and handsome boy leaned down and kissed the brunette softly, yet firmly sending a shiver down her spine.

"You sure about that?" he challenge seeing the girl's dilated pupils. Though she did want to go with him, she really needed some stress relief right about then, she wasn't about to let him change her mind that easily.

"Yes, I am." She answered stubbornly looking up at her boyfriend's handsome face.

"Alright, if you're so sure," the football player said, releasing the girl from his grip, but keeping hold of her hand. "But let me at least walk you to class."

Lina nodded and allowed Mason to escort her down the hall toward the English classroom. They didn't know that a pair of green eyes were watching from about a dozen lockers away. As an electric guitar began playing multiple cheerleaders walked out of the classrooms behind the boy to the beat of a rock song.

_You_

_You don't know how lucky you are_

_Hanging with that girl on your arm_

_But soon enough I'm taking my shot_

The boy followed the couple as they walked down the hallway with a dozen cheerleaders following. He watched as Mason twirled Lina, whose cheerleadering skirt swooshed around her thighs.

_Bang!_

_Once I get 'em locked in my sight_

_Doesn't mean I wasn't alright_

_I'm just seeing something I like_

He "shot" Mason with his fingers and all the cheerleaders behind him fell to the ground as if they had been shot. There they did some hard, contemporary dance movements before standing up and continuing their walk down the hall.

_Woo hoo_

_I just wanna take_

_Someone else's holiday_

_Sometimes the grass is greener_

_And someone else's sugar_

_Someone else's sugar_

_Sweeter_

The boy closed in on Lina and Mason with the cheerleaders following.

_You_

_Went to school and found out you're dumb_

_Maybe you just had too much fun_

_Fell in love and think it's the one_

The green-eyed boy reached the couple and roughly pushed Mason away. He took Lina's hand and pulled her close. He looked deeply into her brown eyes dipped her, taking the cheerleader's breath away. The cheerleaders in the background dipped each other.

_You're like an angel_

_Got me feeling like a devil_

_And I wanna give you something if_

_You promise that you won't tell_

_Woo hoo_

_I just wanna take_

_Someone else's holiday_

_Sometimes the grass is greener_

_And someone else's sugar_

_Someone else's sugar_

_Sweeter_

He pulled Lina up again and turned towards the cheerleaders who had already begun dragging Mason away. Mason looked more confused than anything as a dozen cheerleaders pulled him away from Lina and the other boy.

_I'm a recommend_

_You take that body to the other end_

_I really like you but I can't be friends_

_Not with these hands of mine_

_I just wanna take_

_Someone else's holiday_

_Sometimes the grass is greener_

_And someone else's sugar_

_Someone else's sugar_

_Sweeter_

The boy continued singing as he walked off with Lina under his arm.

_I just wanna take_

_Someone else's holiday_

_Sometimes the grass is greener_

_And someone else's sugar_

_Someone else's sugar_

_Sweeter_

"Wow, that was great!" Elliot told the dark haired boy as he finished his audition. The tall boy grinned as Elliot clapped his hands a couple of times. "Really nice energy you've got there."

* * *

After the auditions Laurie and Elliot were gathering up their things, getting ready to leave. There had only been five auditions, less than half of what they needed for Sectionals. Elliot had a sinking feeling that the other necessary seven wouldn't come as easily.

"So, your sister, Violet-"

"Violetta, actually."

"Right. Why did you make her audition? I mean, she clearly didn't want to. She was completely uncomfortable the entire performance, the poor thing."

"Well, I thought that maybe glee would change that. Make her more confident, you know?"

"Yeah, let's hope, because if she's the stiff when singing to just the two of us, I can't imagine what she'll be like with an audience full of strangers." Laurie gathered up the last of her things and headed out. "Bye, Jon Snow!"

* * *

"So, when you multiply X by X, you get X2," Violetta explained to Topher as he tried his best to wrap his head around the math she was showing him. As the blue-eyed boy still looked lost she tried to go over it again. Probably for the 19th time that day. "See, if you have three and then you multiply it by three, you get nine, right?"

The boy was silent for a moment, processing the information before eagerly nodding.

"Yes, and nine is the same as 32," she said, looking for enlightenment in the handsome boy's bright blue eyes. She found none. "It's like when your measuring area. You have cm, which is just a flat line, like this." She drew a line in his notebook. "Then when it's square you say cm2," she added three lines to turn her line into a square. "You got it? Then if I draw a box that would be?"

"Cm3!" The boy exclaimed loudly, earning him a stern look from Miss Cho who was helping another kid just a couple of desks away. "I totally get that!"

"Yeah, so all you've got to do to get X2 is?"

"Multiply X by X!" Topher replied, still too loudly for the teacher's liking. Violetta returned his huge grin with a soft smile. "It totally makes sense now! So 5 times 5 is 52 and that's the same as 25!" He quickly and messily wrote down the answer to the problem he had been struggling with for the last 15 minutes: 52=25.

"See, it's not that hard."

"Not when you've got an awesome tutor it isn't," the boy smiled, still hugely proud of himself for understanding math. He stopped his celebrating for a moment to look at the exotic looking girl for a moment with a puzzled look on his face. Suddenly her self-consciousness kicked in again causing her to pull her head back into her hoodie again, reminding him oddly of a turtle retreating into it's shell.

"What?"

"It's just the first time I've heard you say more than two words at once." He explained looking at the girl with a sort of fascinated look. She was really pretty when she smiled. With such a feminine face and big grown eyes she could easily have been beautiful if she had bothered to show her face instead letting her hair hang in front of it and had stopped looking so worried all the time. Maybe all she needed to stop worrying and start smiling was some confidence. Topher figured it was only fair to help the poor girl out to return the favor of her tutoring him in math class. And he knew just the way to kick someone's confidence up.

* * *

"Come here," Topher said as he took ahold of Violetta, grabbing her arm and waist, nearly forcing her with him. The girl looked horrorstricken as the junior gently dragged her down the hall. Seeing the terrified look on the girl's face he smiled down at her and assured her that he wasn't going to take her to some remote location and murder her. "It's not like I'd be able to pass math class without you."

Christopher took Violetta down a hall she couldn't remember walking down before. She had no clue of where they were going and she still wasn't quite convinced that Topher wasn't going to kill her off as soon as they got there.

"Hey, Topher," a short boy with fluffy brown hair said as he half-jogged up behind them. He sent Violetta a strange look, mainly because he had never seen her before and because of the way Topher was dragging her along.

"Hey, Prince," Topher replied. "This is Violetta, she'll hang with us today."

"Ah, okay, cool. Hi, I'm Princeton," the shorter boy introduced himself extending a hand to Violetta who slowly took it. They eventually got to a door with a sign that read "Drama club" over two masks, one for tragedy and one for comedy. So that's where they were taking her.

"Ah, there you are! Oh, and you've brought some fresh blood, wonderful!" The woman from the auditions the other day greeter as the boys and Violetta entered the little room with walls painted a bright yellow. All the desks were shoved to the back wall while the chair were placed at somewhat random intervals around the room. There were about 15 chairs and most of them had students sitting on them. "Just find yourselves a chair and sit down in a neutral position. We'll be working on method acting today and we'll be trying a little exercise called 'the teacup' which is really cool and it'll really be helpful for you all!"

The teacher's bright and happy voice was somehow annoying and calming at the same time. "Now, I want you all to close your eyes and relax. We'll be doing some relaxation first. So try to find different tensions in your body. Try to find them and let go of them. This will help you let go of yourself and more easily slip into someone else."

Violetta tried to find these tensions in her body, but she didn't really understand what it meant. Partially opening her left her she glanced to her side to see Christopher extending his right arm and flexing it before he let it fall limply to his side. She tried doing the same thing, and thought she might have felt something. After several minutes of darkness behind her closed eyes and the teacher's voice telling them about different ways to release the tension in their body the woman eventually told them that they were going to release the tension in their mind.

"So, I want you all to lift your arms out to the sides breathe in deeply and on three I want you to yell 'HA' as loudly as you can to release all of your inner tension," the teacher glanced around the room and saw that Violetta's arms weren't all the way up. "All the way up, come on now. You too, new girl." Embarrassed, Violetta extended her arms completely. "1…2…3!"

"HAA!" The room exploded in a wall of sound from the 12 students shouting around her.

"Very good, kids! I bet you've got more tension than that though, so one more time. 1…2…3!"

"HAAA!"

"Feel free to hold it as long as you need. 1…2…3!"

"HAAAAAAA!"

"Okay, now one last time! 1…2…3!"

"HAAAAAA!"

"Yes! Now that we're all relaxed I want you to resume your neutral position. Now imagine a small teacup placed on your knee. Feel the teacup. Feel its temperature. Can you feel its temperature and weight on your knee? What does it look like? How big is it? What color? What type of teacup is it?" the enthusiastic woman continued asking different questions about the non-existent teacup and eventually told the kids to pick it up and drink it. After a while of discussing said teacup she finally asked them to open their eyes.

"So kids, what was that like?"

"Fascinating!"

"Challenging!"

"Intense!"

"Inspiring!" Were among the adjectives used to describe the experience.

"And how would you feel if I told you that we have been doing this for an hour and fifteen minutes?" The raven-haired woman asked her class who responded with incredulous laughter and different exclamations of surprise and disbelief. "Because we have. You have been sitting with your teacups for nearly and hour alone. So our time is almost up. I bet you're all feeling really exhausted, so I'll be brief. I want to tell you all that I expect to see all of you at the musical auditions next week."

The teacher sent a specially pointed look to Topher.

"What musical is it?" One of the girls in the club asked.

"The musical is going to be…" the teacher said and pointed to Christopher who eagerly clapped on his lap to stimulate a drum roll. "RENT!"

* * *

AN: So, that was it, I hope you liked it and that you'll review so I can improve my writing! That would be greatly appreciated.

Now, I promised you some competitions and here they are.

**The Name**

I need a name for the "New Directions", that is Elliot's glee club. The person who comes up with the best name for them will get to pick who will be the lead vocalists of the new directions and they will get a scene especially written for them in one of the following chapters. That is, the winner tells me what kind of scene they want (for example a fluffy scene with Mason and Lina) and then I write it for them (the scene will be in one of the following chapters). So, please send me a PM or review your suggestion for the name. (The school is called Lucy Stone High School and their football team is the Peacocks, if that helps spark some ideas).

**The Other Name**

Now, "New Directions" aren't the only ones who need a name. I

also have a group similar to Vocal Adrenaline that will be appearing in the second or third chapter. They also need a name, so the one who comes up with the best name for them will get a scene written for them the same way the winner of the first competition gets.

**The Vocalist**

Now, this new group obviously also needs a lead singer, a Jesse St. James or Blaine Anderson, if you will. So I want submission for a lead singer for that "Vocal Adrenaline"-group. I need a solid character and good storylines. The winner will naturally get their character in the story, but I will also grant them a wish. Their wish could be anything from a couple getting together, to a song being sung, to a storyline being done/not being done. That's all up to them. (I'm sorry to say there are a few requests I might have to refuse, but most things will be fine). The runners-up will most likely have their characters be feature in that club, but with smaller roles.

So, those are the competitions. There will most likely be more of them if you guys think that competitions are fun. You can compete in all three competitions and with multiple submissions (you can submit as many name suggestions as you want for each of them, and though you are allowed to submit as many OCs as you want, but I value quality over quantity).

Now, at last. Before you read the list I'd like to say that though you're character has been accepted they might not be in the glee club. Because I'm still accepting characters nearly everything is still up in the air, so I hope you guys understand that. I'm sorry if you're character hasn't been featured yet, they will probably be featured soon.

Oh, and please check out the tumblr! The link is on my profile and I would love for you guys to ask questions there (either for me or the characters) and please tell me if you can think of any improvements I can make to the story or the tumblr. Also, if you have a suggestion for who you think your character (or for that matter someone else's character) should be in RENT those suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

* * *

**Cast list:**

**Students:**

Violetta Scott – Nicole Anderson- Frank Kjesus

Savannah "Savvy" Cameron – Troian Bellisario- MaisyBuke

Camden Blakely – Bryan Craig - MaisyBuke

Christoper "Topher" Collins – Beau Mirchoff – Laiquahen

Indira "Indie" Malik – Naomi Scott – Frank Kjesus

Jayden "Jay" Cheema – Avan Jogia – Singmealullabye56

Zoey Bennett – Vanessa Marano – Singmealullabye56

Andrew Dillard – Sean Berdy – Singmealullabye56

Emilina "Lina" Schuester – Hailee Steinfield – MaeLikesSarcasm

Princeton "Prince" Cub – Liam Payne – BitchAmI

Anastasia Davenport – Francia Raisa – BellaRosa17

Christian Pierce – Dylan O'Brien – BellaRosa17

Audrey Fraser – Lauren Jauregui – Wasowskis

Liam Henry Mason – Drew Roy – Munamana

Ezra Cohen – Colton Haynes – Ellii51

**Teachers:**

Elliot Scott – Orlando Bloom - Frank Kjesus

Ezekiel "Zeke" Bochannan – Joseph Gordon-Levitt– Singmealullabye56

Laura "Laurie" Bochannan – Zooey Deschanel - Singmealullabye56

Lacy Cho – Lucy Liu – Condiciosinequanon

Hank Cohen – Jason Bateman – Ellii551

* * *

Songs featured:

Pop Danthology 2013

Thinkin' Bout You – Frank Ocean (acoustic cover by musicbygabi)

Brown-eyed blues – Adrian Hood

Sweeter – Gaven DeGraw

Smile and a Ribbon – Patience and Prudence


	4. 2 Take someone who doesn't keep score

**Hey guys. So you've probably all heard about Cory, but I'm not going to get into that. Just know that if any of you need to talk about it my inbox is always open. Anyway, I've been kind of distant I guess after the news, which is why this chapter is a bit short. So, without further ado, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

_Take someone who doesn't keep score,  
who's not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing,  
who has not the slightest interest even  
in his own personality: he's free._

_- Rumi_

* * *

"Okay, guys!" Elliot exclaimed as his glee club, only consisting of five people, seated themselves on the chairs in the choir room. The kids showed varying degrees of relative interest. "Welcome to the very first glee club meeting! Now, I know there aren't too many of you yet,-"

"You can say that again," Audrey mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"But I am sure that we'll get more members soon," the curly-haired man glanced at the teens. "Because we are performing at the pep rally on Wednesday!"

"What? In front of the entire school?" Audrey asked, looking very uncomfortable with the idea. "I can't do that, besides us coquettes are performing."

"Coquettes?" Prince asked curiously. "As in the cheerleaders?"

"Yeah, hobbit, the cheerleaders. We're the peacoquettes," Audrey explained hurriedly. "Coach Zeke has a routine for us that we're performing, and I won't have time to do both."

"Coach Zeke, as in Ezekiel Buchannan?" Elliot asked, surprised that the man he had met earlier was coaching cheerleading.

"Yup, he's the one." The brunette answered. "And he does not like it when people drop out of his routines. So if y'all don't need me, I'm out of here."

"Wait, wait, not so fast," Elliot stopped the girl who was already on her way out of the room. "I'll talk to him, but stay and learn our routine."

* * *

"Hey, Violetta!" Christopher called as he walked over to her with his hands in the pockets of his green jeans. They contrasted each other starkly, with Violetta in her grey sweater and black jeans and Topher in his green jeans and multicolored shirt. "So, you're auditioning for RENT, right?"

"No, I wasn't actually-"

"Yes, you are," the blue-eyed boy interrupted. "I think you'd do really good in a musical. I mean, you're in the glee club and you're going to join the drama club eventually. I mean you can't resist my charm, right?"

The boy grinned like a maniac, quite resembling the Joker.

"Why so serious?" He imitated the famous batman villain's voice when the girl didn't laugh. That however, caused her to give a faint smile.

"That's better," Topher smiled, a smaller, more genuine smile than before. "You know, you should smile more often. You look really pretty when you do that."

"Disgusting, isn't it?" Audrey turned her head to see who had spoken. Camden Blakely stood beside her, leaning against the locker beside hers. The boy with the piercing green eyes and letterman jacket nodded toward Christopher and Violetta to confirm whom he was talking about. "Sucks, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the tall brunette said, avoiding his gaze. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Please, it's obvious you've got the hots for Technicolor Shakespeare over there," Camden replied, drumming his fingers on his thigh. "You have ever since you two hooked up at-"

"Shut up! It's none of your business," the brunette whisper-shouted. She didn't think anyone else knew about that, except herself, Topher, Ana and Lina. He couldn't have boasted about it in the locker room, that really didn't seem like Topher. She had only told her closest friends, mainly because they promised to tell each other when it happened. It was a stupid promise that they made when they were little, but when Lina told them about how she lost her virginity it wouldn't have seemed right to not say it when she did. "You're even worse anyway. Everyone can tell you're crushing on Lina, and she's taken."

"Well, your man looks pretty taken too, don't you think?" Camden replied with an air of indifference, glancing over at Topher and Violetta. Audrey felt her heart sting a little at the sight, but refused to let Camden see it get to her.

"What do you want anyway?"

"I just want to help you," the boy smiled sweetly. Audrey raised her eyebrows. Since when did Camden Blakely want to help her? "But I do want some help in return. I help you pry Christopher Marlow away from sweet, little whatshername and you help me get what I want."

"How am I supposed to do that? She's already with someone, CJ!" the girl replied.

"Well, we both know that's not going to last," the boy brushed off the argument. "Lina doesn't settle down, she needs a challenge. All you need to do is make her realize that I am that challenge."

"Fine, but how do you help me?" Audrey asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Simple," the boy grinned.

* * *

"Hey, Zeke," Elliot greeted the other man as he sat down with Zeke and his sister. Laurie happily greeted him between mouthfuls of her salad. "I need to talk to you about Audrey. She's in my Glee club and we're performing at the pep rally, but she's also on your cheer squad and she doesn't think you'll let her perform with us because she's performing with you."

"And she's right." Zeke stated with an unreadable expression. "I don't let my cheerleaders perform anywhere but with the squad."

"Could you make an exception? I mean, I only have five kids, I really need her."

"Well, I'm sorry Elliot, but I can't break my own rules this early," Zeke replied, without showing too clear signs of sympathy. "That would hardly seem professional."

"But they're just kids, they're not professionals-"

"And that is the exact attitude that is going to keep them from being professionals," the older man explained. "Look, Elliot, if you ever want those kids to take you seriously you have got to be serious with them. You can't just let them come and go as they please and do whatever they want. You have got to show them that this is a competition, that it's not all innocent fun."

Elliot had never thought of it that way. To him glee club had been all about letting kids sing, nothing more than that. Maybe it was important to let them compete, try to get them to want to be better.

"Elliot, we need to talk about the auditions on Thursday," Laurie interrupted the man's train of thought after swallowing another piece of salad. "I've talked to my drama kids about it and I think we've got some to audition, at least Prince and Christopher. They're really good and Prince is in your glee club, right?"

Before Elliot could nod the raven-haired woman had continued rambling on about how, where and when the auditions for the musical would be.

* * *

"You're auditioning for the musical?" Anastasia Davenport asked Audrey with skepticism clear in her voice. She sat with her two best friends, Audrey and Lina at their table in the cafeteria. The three were the most popular girls in school, not surprising considering they were all cheerleaders and hot as hell. "Why?"

"Because I'm a damn awesome singer," Audrey reasoned, taking a bite of her apple. Truth was it was all a part of Camden's plan to get her and Topher together. He had apparently overheard Topher saying that he was auditioning for Roger, who was Mimi's love interest. That just meant that she'd need to get Mimi and they'd need to spend a lot of time together and parts of that time would be spent kissing. In return however, she'd need to find a way for Camden to get closer to Lina. "Why don't you guys audition too?"

"Are you mad? The only people who audition for the musical are those crazy theatre geeks and the weird glee kids," Audrey replied quickly.

"Hey, I am one of those weird glee kids!" Audrey said, mentally adding: "And Topher is one of those crazy theatre geeks."

"I'll join with you," Lina answered, ignoring Ana's offended look. "I like Broadway and God knows this musical needs some sexy."

"Awesome!" Audrey exclaimed, excited about her friend joining her in the musical and that she had found a way for Camden to win Lina over.

* * *

Savannah Cameron and Zoey Bennett were walking down the halls of Lucy Stone together. Though the people who didn't know them thought they were the most mismatched friends at school, the two girls were actually very much alike. They were both sarcastic daredevils with less-than-normal family situations. Savannah's mother, Jennie was a single parent in charge of her two kids, though Savannah was the one who actually had to take care of everything. Zoey, on the other hand, had two foster fathers. They had met through their younger siblings, Isaac and Hannah. Zoey had taken Hannah to see a movie to bond with her new foster sister and Savannah had taken Isaac to the same movie to celebrate a good grade he got on a test at school. Hannah and Isaac were in the same grade and immediately went over to talk to one another when they met at the movies. While to younger kids talked Savannah and Zoey got talking too and bonded quickly. They had been best friends ever since.

"So, how was your date last night?" Zoey asked her best friend as they walked together to Zoey's math class. Savannah had the next period off and figured she might as well walk her friend to her class, rather than sit and be bored out of her mind.

"It was fine, but we had to cut it short because Isaac got sick," Savvy shared. "He's fine though, mom is staying home with him today."

"Well, that's responsible of her," Zoey said, kind of impressed at Jennie's maternal action.

"Well, it took me forty-five minutes to convince her."

"Oh, that sounds more like her," the younger girl agreed sympathetically. "Anyway, I'll see you in Spanish."

"Bye," Savvy said as Zoey walked into her Math classroom. The sophomore headed down the hall towards her locker to get some of her books. There was no one else in the hall making the brunette feel more at ease. She hummed gently as she stored her books away. Savvy had always enjoyed music, but didn't think she was all that great herself. She had truly discovered music through one of her mother's loser boyfriends. He had taught her how to play the piano and guitar, or at least introduced her to the idea; he wasn't around for long enough to help her be good.

"Hey, would you-" A cold hand on her shoulder shook Savvy out of her reverie, frightening her. In her three seconds of horror she turned and hit the man behind her with one of her books, purely on instinct. Just after attacking the man she snapped back into herself and saw that it was one of her teachers, Elliot Scott. The man was rubbing his arm on the spot where the book had hit him.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Savvy apologized quickly. "You just scared me."

"It's alright," Elliot replied, still rubbing his arm. "I was actually going to ask how you would feel about joining glee club?"

* * *

"RENT," Audrey told Camden as she walked up next to him on their way to English class. The boy looked at her with confusion written all over his face. "That's what you need to get close to Lina. You need to be in the school musical. She really likes Broadway, but it's something Mason would never do. That's how you show her that you're right for her."

"Oh, I like the way you think, Fraser." Camden replied, a smug grin spreading across his face. At heart Audrey did feel a bit bad about trying to break up her friend's relationship, but if they were being honest she really didn't think that Lina and Mason would last long anyway. Sure they were cute now, but she knew Lina and Lina needed a challenge, once a boy got too whipped she'd dump him.

"You really do like her, right?" The brunette asked, looking for reassurance that she wasn't doing the wrong thing. If Camden really were into Emilina, then it wouldn't be a bad thing for Audrey to help him get her, would it? If he did have her best interest in mind and intended to treat her right, then she would be helping the other girl. At least that's what she told herself.

"Of course I do, who else would I do all this?"

"Just making sure."

* * *

A group of girls in royal blue cheerleading uniforms strutted out unto the court. They all sported high ponytails and bright smiles. Elliot noticed the man beside him lean forward and stare at them intensely.

"We're the Peacoquettes and we're here to rock your world!" a tiny girl with long brown hair beamed at the audience from her place at the very front. Elliot figured she was the captain.

"5, 6, 7, 8!" The girl from the front counted before the group began doing a contemporary dance. It was really impressive and definitely got the audience's attention.

_Word on the street you got something to show me_  
_Magical, colorful, Mr. Mystery_  
_I'm intrigued for a peek heard it's fascinating_  
_Come on, baby, let me see what you're hiding underneath_

_I want the jaw dropping eye popping, head turning, body shocking_  
_Oh, ay, ay, oh, oh, ay, ay, oh_  
_I want my heart throbbing, ground shaking, show stopping, amazing_  
_Oh, ay, ay, oh, oh, ay, ay, oh_

_Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?_  
_Don't be a chicken, boy, stop acting like a beeotch_  
_I'ma peace out if you don't give me the pay off_  
_Come on, baby, let me see what you're hiding underneath_

_I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock, your peacock, cock_  
_Your peacock, cock, cock, your peacock_

The girls ended their dance in identical poses with huge smiles on their faces. Zeke nodded with approval and Elliot could see relief clear on their faces as their coach gave a sign of approval. As they ran off the audience cheered wildly. Elliot felt his heart speed up and he felt quite nervous for his own kids. He thought they were good, sure, but there was just so much that could go wrong. The crowd calmed down as Principal Michaels stepped in front of the microphone and said something really vague about how much the school mattered and all the exciting things that would be happening this year.

"Now, welcome our very own glee club!" the woman smiled, it was probably the first time most of the students saw her smiling. Elliot, Laurie and Principal Michaels clapped enthusiastically, while the rest of the gym clapped their hands a couple of times just to acknowledge the club's existence. Four of the members present sat around a small square table with one cup each in front of them while Princeton walked around them with his camera filming. The film was shown on a screen on the wall opposite of the student body. With slightly shaking hands Violetta began making a rhythm by clapping her hands and moving the cup around. The three others joined her for the second round.

_Savvy_: _I got my ticket for the long way 'round_

_Two bottle 'a whiskey for the way_

_Savvy and Jay: And I sure would like some sweet company_

_S: And I'm leaving tomorrow, wha-do-ya say?_

Violetta: When I'm gone _(S: When I'm gone)_

When I'm gone _(S: When I'm gone)_

You're gonna miss me when I'm gone _(S: You're gonna miss me when I'm gone)_

You're gonna miss me by my hair

You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh

You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

J: I've got my ticket for the long way 'round

The one with the prettiest of views

**Camden: It's got mountains, it's got rivers, it's got sights to give you shivers**

**V &C: But it sure would be prettier with you (**_S & J: Prettier with you)_

J: When I'm gone _**(V, S & C: When I'm gone)**_

When I'm gone _**(V, S & C: When I'm gone)**_

You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

**C: You're gonna miss me by my walk **(J: Miss me by my walk)

**You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh** (J: Miss me by my talk)

**C & J: You're gonna miss me when I'm gone**

The kids had done great so far, but Elliot felt himself tense as they began doing a very advanced routine with snapping, clapping and high five-ing.

_S & V: When I'm gone_ **(J & C: When I'm gone)**

_When I'm gone_ **(J & C: When I'm gone)**

_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_You're gonna miss me by my hair_

_You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh_

_S: You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

_**Everyone: When I'm gone (Gone)**_

_**You're gonna miss me when I'm**_

_S: Gone_

J: Gone

**C: Gone**

J: You're gonna miss me by my walk

V: Miss me by my talk, oh

_**E: You're gonna miss me when I'm gone**_

The four kids put their cups down, all letting out a deep breath of relief. The five laughed as the audience erupted into wild applause, even louder than for the cheerleaders. Elliot grinned proudly and gave his students a thumbs-up.

* * *

"You know, I'm not supposed to do your homework for you just because I'm your tutor," Ezra told Camden after explaining what a book's theme is for the umpteenth time. They were in the big, stuffy tutor center along with a few other students and tutors.

"What! What else do I pay you for?" The green-eyed boy joked, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Dude, I'm not kidding," Ezra said seriously. "If you're grades don't improve I seem like a bad tutor and then no one else will want me as their tutor."

"So?" the junior asked.

"So if no one wants me for their tutor then princess Jasmine over there will get everyone," Ezra replied pointing towards a Indira Malik who leaned over another girl with black hair. "And I really need that money."

"What do you need money for? You're not poor or anything, are you?"

"No, I just really want to go to this football camp next summer," the other boy explaines. "But my parents won't pay because they want me to learn about hard work or whatever."

"Well in that case," Camden said, a wicked grin spreading over his face. "Are you up for a little bet?"

"What kind of bet?"

"Oh, just a tiny little one," Camden said leaning closer to the other boy so no one else in the classroom would hear. "I bet that you can't bed Anastasia Davenport by Christmas."

"What? Why would I want to bed her by Christmas?"

"Because if you do I'll tell everyone what an amazing tutor you are," Camden grinned.

"No way, that is immoral!"

"I'll pay you 300 bucks."

"Fine," Ezra sighed. It wasn't like he wanted to do it, he just figured it was too good of a deal to resist. "But what do you get out of it?"

"The satisfaction of seeing that b*tch getting what's coming to her," Camden said. "And if you lose you'll be doing my all of homework until I graduate."

* * *

"Hey, I'm Christopher Collins," Topher greeted the two teachers who sat in the audience. He had auditioned enough times to know that a smile would go a long way with the judges. "And I'll be auditioning for Roger with 'I'm Alive' from Next to Normal."

An electric guitar began playing the intro as Topher gripped the microphone stand with both hands.

_I am what you want me to be,_

_And I'm your worst fear_

_You'll find it in me._

_Come closer..._

_Come closer..._

The boy stared intensely at the teachers watching, his blue eyes captivating. He didn't move much, just held unto the microphone.

_I am more than memory_

_I am what might be,_

_I am mystery._

_You know me_

_So show me._

_When I appear it's_

_Not so clear if_

_I'm a simple spirit_

_Or I'm flesh and blood..._

The kid had a great voice, though not quite the rocker's edge that Roger was known for, but still a good voice. Laurie was really impressed too, judging by her lost expression. She didn't think she had ever seen Topher look that serious.

_But I'm alive,_

_I'm alive,_

_I am so alive,_

_And I feed on the fear_

_That's behind your eyes._

_And I need you_

_To need me_

_It's no surprise_

_I'm alive..._

_So alive..._

_I'm alive._

As he began singing the second verse the tall boy jumped unto the piano by pushing off the stool, at first causing both teachers to wince in fear. When the piano didn't break at the impact they both let out relieved sighs as the boy winked at them and continued singing.

_I am flame and I am fire,_

_I am destruction,_

_Decay and desire_

_I'll hurt you..._

_I'll heal you..._

_I'm your wish,_

_Your dream come true,_

_And I am your darkest_

_Nightmare too_

_I've shown you..._

_I own you._

_And though you made me,_

_You can't change me_

_I'm the perfect stranger_

_Who knows you too well._

The boy slid off of the piano and landed rather gracefully on his feet. Neither Elliot nor Laurie could keep their eyes off him as he moved about the stage. He had great stage presence that could really be an advantage.

_And I'm alive,_

_I'm alive,_

_I am so alive,_

_And I'll tell you the truth_

_If you let me try._

_You're alive,_

_I'm alive,_

_And I'll show why_

_I'm alive..._

_So alive..._

_I'm alive_

_I'm right behind you._

_You say forget,_

_But I remind you._

_You can try to hide,_

_You know that I will find you._

_'Cause if you won't grieve me_

_You won't leave me behind..._

Topher hadn't auditioned last year, though he didn't really have a good reason why not. Maybe he just wasn't all that psyched about 'Mamma Mia!', maybe he just wasn't all that psyched about musicals at all. He did really like 'RENT' though and 'next to normal' too for that matter.

_Ah, ah, ah,_

_Whoa, oh, oh,_

_Whoa, oh, oh..._

_No, no, no_

_I'm alive,_

_I'm alive,_

_I am so alive,_

_If you climb on my back,_

_Then we both can fly._

_If you try to deny me_

_I'll never die_

_I'm alive..._

_So alive..._

_I'm alive..._

_Yeah, yeah..._

_I'm alive..._

_I'm alive..._

_I'm alive..._

_I'm alive!_

He ended with his arm up in the air in the famous Freddie Mercury pose. Both teachers leaped to their feet as the boy struggled to catch his breath. With a huge smile on his face Topher gave a bow and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

* * *

"You are auditioning for the musical, right?" Indira asked Jayden as they walked past the bulletin board. She had been going on about how amazing the glee club's performance at the pep rally had been ever since it happened, but was constantly mentioning how much better it would have looked if they had at least talked about what they were going to wear.

"I was thinking about it, why?"

"I just think you should go for it," the girl replied non-chalantely. "It would give you a chance to broaden your horizon, you know. Sing like in glee club, but with actual costumes."

"Are you still upset that we didn't come to you for advice on our clothes for the pep rally? Indie, we had two days to prepare and with a new member who joined like the day before the performance," Jay argued, but with a smile on his face. Though he did enjoy clothes and fashion he hardly thought they should be a priority when the performance was hardly rehearsed.

"That's no excuse," the girl stubbornly continued. "Lack of time should not prevent fabulous."

"Well, if you're so determined to make us fabulous then why don't you design the costumes?" Jay asked, not really joking. Indie had a real talent for fashion and clothes, but she hadn't really utilized it yet. "It'll look really good when you apply for fashion school or whatever."

"That's actually a really great idea!" the girl grinned, kissed Jayden on the cheek and ran off. "Thanks!"

* * *

"Hey, I'm Lina Schuester," Lina said as she stepped unto the stage wearing her cheerleading uniform.

"And I'm Audrey Fraser," Audrey added as she followed her best friend. "And we'll be doing 'Take me or leave me'."

"Alright girls, go ahead," Elliot said, eventhough he didn't really want the kids to do songs from the musical. Or audition in pairs for that matter. He already knew Audrey could sing though, so he didn't really need to pay that much attention to her. Audrey seated herself on the piano as the opening chords were played.

_Lina: Every single day_

_I walk down the street_

_I hear people say_

_"Baby's so sweet"_

_Ever since puberty_

_Everybody stares at me_

_Boys, girls_

_I can't help it baby_

The girl did have some pipes on her and confidence to keep flirting with the audience. Elliot had already received a wink or two from the brunette bombshell. Audrey sat on the piano, rolling her eyes.

_So be kind_

_And don't lose your mind_

_Just remember_

_That I'm your baby_

_Take me for what I am_

_Who I was meant to be_

_And if you give a damn_

_Take me baby or leave me_

_Take me baby or leave me_

The girls had chosen to skip the second verse, simply because it would give Lina a lot more to sing and it would make the audition too long. Both girls had learned from Coach Zeke that it's better to keep it short and leave them wanting more, whether it concerned men, performing or just about anything else in life.

_No way, can I be what I'm not_

_But hey, don't you want your girl hot?_

_Don't fight, don't lose your head_

'_Cause every night, who's in your bed?_

_Who, who's in your bed?_

_Kiss, pookie_

Lina had managed to climb unto the piano next to Audrey just as the other girl jumped down to sing her verse.

**Audrey: It won't work, I look before I leap**

**I love margins and discipline**

**I make lists in my sleep**

**Baby, what's my sin?**

**Never quit, I follow through**

**I hate mess, but I love you**

**What to do with my impromptu baby**

**So be wise**

'**Cause this girl satisfies**

**You've got a prize who don't compromise**

**You're one lucky baby**

As Audrey sang Lina sat on the piano commenting the girl's statements. When Audrey's verse was done Lina jumped down from the piano to join her friend at the front of the stage.

**Take me for what I am**

_(A control freak)_

**Who I was meant to be**

_(A snob, yet over-attentive)_

**And if you give a damn**

_(A lovable, droll geek)_

**Take me baby or leave me**

_(And anal retentive!)_

_**L & A: That's it! The straw that breaks my back**_

_**I quit**_**, unless you take it back**

_**Women,**_ _what is it about them?_

_**Can't live with them or without them!**_

_**Take me for what I am**_

**Who I was meant to be**

_(Who I was meant to be)_

_And if you give a damn_

**(And if you give a damn ya better)**

**Take me baby or leave me**

_(Oh take me baby, take me or leave me)_

_**Take me baby**_

_**Or leave me**_

"_**Guess I'm leaving, I'm gone!" **_Both girls said as they stormed off to either side of the stage. They returned, both grinning, to a standing ovation from their teachers. They hugged each other, laughing before curtsying.

"That was amazing, girls!" Elliot told them before the two exited the auditorium. Glancing down at the list he saw there was just one other name on it. "Laurie, could you take over here? I've got to be somewhere in like ten minutes."

"Sure, but where are you going?" Laurie asked, but Elliot was already halfway out the door.

* * *

"Guys, you all did wonderfully at the pep rally," Elliot congratulated his six glee club members on Friday. "So you deserve a prize."

The young teacher took in the looks of mild anticipation on the students' faces.

"We are going on a field trip!" Elliot exclaimed, but got very little response. "Come on! This Sunday we're going to see Music Maxima!"

"What is Music Maxima?" Audrey asked, seeming very uninterested.

"They'll most likely be our competition for Regionals," Elliot explained. After looking the group up online he had been quite scared, considering the amount of awards the group had won. Still, considering Zeke's comment about making it a competition to get the best performances had really stuck with him and he wanted to show the kids who they were up against. "And we are going to go see what they've got."

* * *

"Yeah, totally, Mrs. Cheema," Indie agreed as Jayden's mother rambled on about how to make the best Chicken Tikka. Jay rolled his eyes at the two females' conversation. He really couldn't stand how well Indira and his mother got along, partially because that made his mother want them to be together even more than before. If Padma Cheema hadn't liked Indie she probably wouldn't talk as much about her and make Jay seem like a bad boyfriend if he didn't take her out at least once a week and if he didn't bring her flowers at least once a month. Indie herself couldn't care less about the flowers and though she did enjoy the fancy restaurant food it wasn't like she'd be mad if she only got to eat it a few times a year.

"Well, I'll just go make dinner and leave you two alone," Padma said as she headed for the kitchen. "Oh and Indira love, call me Padma."

"Okay," Indie smiled as her and Jayden headed up the stairs to Jayden's room.

"You are such a suck-up," the boy said when they entered his room, safely out of earshot.

"I have no idea of what you're talking about."

"Oh, totally, Mrs. Cheema," Jay said in a high girly voice, pouting his lips. "Yes, Mrs. Cheema, of course you can adopt me!"

"Oh, come on," the Indian girl replied as she flopped down unto Jayden's bed. "You're just jealous because your mom likes me better than you!"

"I'm her son, she should like me better!"

"Well, I'm adorable," Indie replied giving Jayden a sugary sweet smile. When Jayden didn't laugh or give much of a reaction except a scowl, the girl's expression turned more serious. "Jayden, she might like me a lot, but you're her son, of course she loves you more!"

"It sure doesn't seem like it," Jayden complained, slumping down in the chair by his desk. "All I ever hear is 'Jayden do that', 'Jayden, did you do that', 'Jayden, when is Indie coming over' and I'm sick of it!"

"Hey, my parents are just the same," Indie said. "Why do you think I'm over here all the time?"

"Because everyone thinks you're my girlfriend? And every time you're over, my parents fall more in love with you," Jayden replied running a hand through his long hair.

"If you don't want me over anymore you can just tell them we broke up," the girl said casually. "It's not like we're really together."

"No, it's not that I don't want you around, I just want my parents to accept that I don't want to 'be a doctor and marry a nice, little Indian girl'," Jayden explained. "Besides, if I'm not with you then they'll try to set me up with someone else. Most likely Kaveri from three streets down."

"The one with the mustache?"

"Yes, she's the one," Jayden said, with a blank look on his face. "I'm really glad we're 'going out' so I don't have to date her."

"Yeah, one of the many perks of fake-dating me," the girl grinned. "You know, aside from my wonderful personality and hot bod."

"Not to mention your fabulous sense of style and direction."

"Hey, you were the one who didn't want to ask that tall, smelly guy for directions!"

"Indie, he was homeless, do you really think he'd know where the fanciest Indian restaurant in town is?"

"Hey, you never know!"

* * *

Elliot got a sinking feeling in his stomach as they entered the auditorium at Camber High. He could already tell that the school had used more on their auditorium than Lucy Stone had used on anything ever. It looked a whole lot more like a Broadway theatre than a high school auditorium.

"Wow, this is huge!" Princeton said as they walked in. "This is like three times the size of our gym!"

"Yeah, and it smells a lot better," Audrey remarked.

"Now guys, just because they have a nicer auditorium that does not mean that they're ultimately better than us," Elliot reminded, worried that taking his kids to see the show might not have been a good idea after all. "So remember, we're just here to see what they're like."

The group took their seats just as the lights were dimmed. All attention went to the stage as a single spotlight found a boy with red hair standing smack in the middle of the stage. He wore black pants and a white shirt with a coral cummerbund. The boy opened his mouth and sang with a smooth voice. He didn't do anything else, he just stood and sang to the audience.

When I find myself in times of trouble,  
Mother Mary comes to me,  
Speaking words of wisdom,  
Let it be.  
And in the hour of darkness,  
She is standing right in front of me,  
Speaking words of wisdom,  
Let it be.

Other voices could be heard echoing the last three words as the other members of Music Maxima entered the stage. They walked slowly and gracefully; the boys dressed just like the boy in front and the girls dressed in matching coral dresses.

Let it be, let it be,  
Let it be, let it be,  
Whisper words of wisdom,  
Let it be.

A girl with golden curls took center stage as the other members split into three groups. The red-headed boy slipped into the group that placed itself on the right-hand side of the stage, with one group directly behind the lead singer and one group to her right.

And when the broken-hearted people,  
Living in the world agree,  
There will be an answer,  
Let it be.  
For though they may be parted,  
There is still a chance that they will see,  
There will be an answer,  
Let it be.

Let it be, let it be,  
Let it be, let it be,  
There will be an answer,  
Let it be.

The girl had a high and angelic voice accompanied by the choir behind her echoing her words.

Let it be, let it be,  
Let it be, let it be,  
Whisper words of wisdom,  
Let it be.

The choir stepped closer to the golden-haired girl as they took over all the singing.

And when the night is cloudy,  
There is still a light that shines on me,  
Shine until tomorrow,  
Let it be.

The choir stopped moving as the girl began singing again, her voice stronger than before.

I wake up to sound of music,  
Mother Mary comes to me,  
Speaking words of wisdom,  
Let it be.

Let it be, let it be,  
Let it be, let it be,  
There will be an answer,  
Let it be.

The group turned after singing the refrain again. Just as Elliot thought that the ending had been kind of weak, the group turned and ran to the front of the stage to repeat the chorus.

Let it be, let it be,  
Let it be, let it be,  
Whisper words of wisdom,  
Let it be.

"Well, at least none of us are gingers."

* * *

"Hey, man, congrats on Angel!" Topher said to Princeton as he passed the shorter boy in the hall on Monday. The cast list had just been put up that morning and so far there didn't seem to be too many issues.

"Thanks," Prince replied, a bit half-heartedly. He loved the character Angel, he was just unsure of how to portray her. Walking in heels and wearing make-up weren't going to help his reputation around school either. "And, congratulations for getting Roger!"

"Thanks, man," Topher grinned widely. Though he agreed that he was a little too soft-core for Roger appearance-vise and voice-vise, Topher honestly thought that the role was right for him.

Another person who thought that Topher was right for Roger was Audrey, that is to say Mimi Marquez. The girl watched the boy with a smirk on her pretty face.

"So, how's our Mimi doing?" Lina asked as she slid up next to her friend. She saw the look on her fellow peacoquette's face and followed her look to Christopher. "Oh, spying on Roger already? Just don't climb in through his window in a skimpy dress."

Audrey turned to her friend with a raised eyebrow, still smirking.

"So how are you ladies feeling about your parts?" Camden asked as he came up to the two cheerleaders.

"Great, I mean who doesn't want to be a lesbian diva?"

"Or a stripper with AIDS?" Audrey said. "Who did you get anyway?"

"Oh, I'm Benny," Camden grinned as Lina looked confused.

"Wait, you auditioned?"

"Yeah, I did actually," Camden replied. "Why so surprised?"

"Nothing, you just don't seem the Broadway type," Lina said with a shrug.

"Maybe you just don't know me all that well," Camden replied and Lina gave a half-smile in return.

* * *

"Well, guys I know that seeing Music Maxima might not have been my best idea ever," Elliot admitted as he looked at the six hopeless faces of his glee club. "But they've had a lot more practice, most of them have probably been in the club for years!"

"Nope, their soloists were a sophomore and a freshman," Savvy said staring blankly at the floor. "I looked it up."

"Maybe it's just their director that has a bit more experience," Audrey replied sending a sharp look towards Elliot. "Or you know, Any experience at all."

"Thank you, Audrey," Elliot mumbled. "I'll keep that in mind."

"What does it matter anyway, we all know we suck." Camden said. "If we're terrible it doesn't matter how good the competition is, we'll lose anyway."

"But that's where you're wrong," Elliot said. "We might not have the fanciest costumes or the most impressive arrangements, but we know that there are more important things than winning a competition."

"Like what?"

"Like standing up for something," Elliot said as he grabbed some sheet music from the piano. "Which brings me to the song we'll be working on today."

* * *

The glee club was gathered on stage in the auditorium. They were all wearing red and standing in a straight line with Audrey in front.

_Audrey: You can be amazing_

_You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug_

_You can be the outcast_

_Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love_

_Or you can start speaking up_

As Savvy began singing she joined Audrey in front of the others. The two girls shared a smile as the taller girl took over.

**Savvy: Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do**

**And they settle 'neath your skin**

**Kept on the inside and no sunlight**

**Sometimes a shadow wins**

**But I wonder what would happen if you**

_A: Say what you wanna say_

_And let the words fall out_

_Honestly I wanna see you be brave_

_**S & A: With what you want to say**_

_**And let the words fall out**_

_**Honestly I wanna see you be brave**_

E: I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

_A: I wanna see you be brave_

E: I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

**S: I wanna see you be brave**

"Jay! You've done all your homework for Wednesday, right?" Padma Cheema called to her oldest son from the kitchen. The boy was sitting on his laptop in the living room and only gave a non-committal grunt in reply. "Because you know you're taking Indira out tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know, mom," Jayden mumbled, hardly loud enough for the woman to hear.

"She's such a nice girl, that Indie," Padma continued. Jayden could have sworn the day he took Indie out on their first date was the happiest day of his mother's life. That was the main reason he didn't want to tell her that his and Indie's relationship was a lie. "She's so pretty and smart."

"Yes, mom," Jayden agreed with a sigh. "Indie's great."

Camden: Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down

By the enemy

Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing

Bow down to the mighty

Don't run, stop holding your tongue

**Jay: Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live**

**Maybe one of these days you can let the light in**

**Show me how big your brave is**

_Princeton: Say what you wanna say_

_And let the words fall out_

_Honestly I wanna see you be brave_

The two boys joined their fellow glee club members at the front, standing with one girl in between each of them.

**J: With what you want to say**

**And let the words fall out**

C: Honestly I wanna see you be brave

Violetta: Innocence, your history of silence

Won't do you any good

Did you think it would?

Let your words be anything but empty

Why don't you tell them the truth?

Topher and Violetta stood by her locker talking about the musical and how Topher and the other drama geeks had convinced Violetta to join. The two had been spending a lot of time together in between classes, mainly because Topher seemed to always gravitate towards the brunette. She was just different from most of the other girls he knew, so sweet and reserved.

**S: Say what you wanna say**

_Audrey: And let the words fall out_

_**V, S & A: Honestly I wanna see you be brave**_

_**With what you want to say**_

_**And let the words fall out**_

_**Honestly I wanna see you be brave**_

Audrey stood watching from a little way off, watching the boy she had fallen in love with fall in love with someone else. At least she was pretty sure he was in love with someone else. A part of her wanted to believe that if she could just tell him how she felt everything would be okay, but that didn't feel like a very realistic expectation.

E: I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

C: I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

**J: I wanna see you be brave**

E: I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

_A: I wanna see you be brave_

E: I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you

* * *

**AN: So that's the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. **

**RENT Cast List:**

**Roger Davis - Christoper Collins**

**Mark Cohen - Christian Pierce**

**Tom Collins - Jayden Cheema**

**Angel Dumott Schunard - Princeton Cub**

**Mimi Marquez - Audrey Fraser**

**Maureen Johnson - Emilina Schuester**

**Joanne Jefferson - Violetta Scott**

**Benjamin Coffin III - Camden Blakely**

**Performances: (if the links don't work the performances will be on the tumblr)**

**Peacock - Katy Perry - ** watch?v=P48lk87JfbM

**Cups - Lulu and the Lampshades (Sam tsui, Alex G, Kina Grannis and Kurt Schneider)**

** watch?v=6y1aOg_UO_A**

**I'm Alive - Next to Normal (just look up the song on youtube, no actual video necessary)**

**Take me or leave me - RENT (same as with N2N)**

**Let it be - the Beatles -**

** watch?v=0uZNPeaWX2k**

**Brave - Sara Bareilles (Same as N2N)**

**Outfits for performances and a lot of other hopefully fun things will be posted on the tumblr, so please check that out. Questions are appreciated as well as suggestions for improvement of both the story and the tumblr.**

**Competition time!**

**I need some more characters for a rival show choir called The Robins. They're a bit of a parody on the warblers, as in they're posh, sing a cappella and they're a one-gender school (this one is all female). So characters for that would be amazing. Keep in mind that these are secondary characters and will be featured less than the characters from Lucy Stone. Also, their storylines should involve at least one Lucy Stone student, like Blaine's storylines involving Kurt and Jesse's storylines revolving around Rachel. Just keep that in mind. The prize will be the same as for the previous character competition; a wish.**

**I also need another character, who is a bit different, but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone so if you're interested in making them please PM me and I'll get back to you with details.**

**There's a new poll on my profile so go vote for your favorite characters!**

**Also, reviews are very appreciated. Seriously, without them I have no idea of how I'm doing and of what you think about anything. So reviews are awesome!**

**Hopefully I'll be getting you guys one more chapter before school starts. Then my updates will be a lot less frequent.**

**Anyway, I think that's it. Bye!**


	5. 3 (Un)Comfortable

AN: I hope you guys like this chapter, though I know it's kind of short (I figured you guys would prefer a shorter chapter over no chapter). I'll try to get the next one out by Halloween (considering it's a Halloween chapter I guess that's not too odd). I haven't had the time to look properly through this so I hope it's not too terrible. I'd love it if you would leave me a review and tell me your thoughts. I'll be updating the tumblr more with things about RENT and stuff, so keep checking that out :)

* * *

_For Cory, who opened our hearts and minds_

_Through opening his own_

_For Lyle, who never met a stranger_

_And who always was home_

_Not matter how far away he was_

* * *

"It's just that I'm so used to singing pretty, you know?" Topher explained when Elliot asked the junior to try to 'sing it like a rock star'. The boy was a really good singer and even better actor, but getting the rough edge that was Roger's trademark seemed just about impossible. "I'll keep trying though."

"That's great," the teacher replied, already turning his head to address another student with an issue. It seemed that all of the kids were having trouble with something in the musical; Topher couldn't sing it right, Audrey and Princeton were having trouble with the dancing (Elliot realized quickly that he should have had dance auditions for the more dance-heavy parts, but hadn't and ended up with the two people in glee who couldn't dance to save their lives as the two character with solo dances), Violetta wasn't comfortable with her costume and poor Princeton seemed completely lost when trying to interpret Angel. In addition all the acting was a little off and no one was off book yet. "What is it, Indie?"

"Well, I just wanted you to look at these sketches I made for Mimi and Roger's costumes," the tan girl replied placing a small pile of papers on Elliot's table. Skimming quickly through the pile all of them looked alright to Elliot. "What do you think?"

"I think they look really good," Elliot dismissed, before quickly turning to Princeton who looked especially awkward. Indira sat back in her seat, a bit disappointed that the teacher hadn't noticed the color symbolism. "Prince, I just need you to say the lines and do the choreography for now. You can work on finding Angel later, okay?"

"Sure, Mr. Scott," the boy said, but didn't look sure at all. He looked more like someone had told him to keep shooting bad guys and worry about his huge bleeding wound later.

"Now, guys, we're still just in rehearsal, nothing needs to be perfect just yet. We just need you to go on and we'll…" Elliot really didn't know how to end the statement. "Just try" seemed to vague, but he really had no idea of what else to do. Directing a musical or anything really, wasn't something he had ever done before and he was completely lost. He figured he only had one option. "Try."

* * *

"All I'm saying is that she really should be knocked down a peg!" Zoey explained to Prince as the two walked down the hall on their way to their lockers. She really hadn't let their fight in the hallway go, still insisting that Emilina was a vicious bitch who deserved to be punched in the face daily. Even though Prince hadn't said one word in protest his crush insisted on going on about all the reasons that Emilina was a terrible human being.

"I'm not arguing with you," Prince reminded, but the taller one continued her rant. Prince was only half listening, mostly because the arguments got kind of old the twelfth time you heard them. "But if you're so angry with her, then why don't you tell her what you think. Maybe she doesn't even realize what she's doing? Or that it hurts people?"

"Because people like her just don't listen to people like me," Zoey said. "Haven't you seen like any high school movies?"

"Well, yes, but there's got to be a better way to send a message than to just rant to me," he proposed, trying to reason with his friend. "Not that I mind your ranting."

"I just had the best idea ever!" The small girl exclaimed and before Prince could ask what it was she had run off claiming to look for Savvy.

"Oh my God, it was terrible!" Elliot sighed when Zeke asked how the rehearsal for the musical went. Elliot had gotten into the habit of eating with Zeke and his sister, partially because Laurie usually called him over and he'd feel mean if he didn't join and partially because he enjoyed their company. "All the kids were so uncomfortable and I had no idea of what to say to them and everything was such a mess!"

"Well, what did you expect?" Zeke asked, not really sympathizing. "It is show business after all."

"I just didn't think it would be so…" Elliot stopped mid-sentence to think of the right word. It didn't come. "Hard."

"But we're managing, right?" Laurie chimed in, positive as always. Elliot swore that the school could burn down to ashes with everyone inside and she'd find a positive way to say it. "I mean, both Prince and Topher are awesome actors even though-"

The woman stopped suddenly to laugh. The two men looked at each other curiously as their mutual friend kept guffawing. When she eventually stopped, she looked over at them with a smile and asked them what it was that made them look like a donkey riding shotgun in a van had just catcalled them.

"You just began laughing so suddenly," Elliot said.

"Oh, I just thought that Prince and Topher's names sound funny together," the woman giggled, but when Zeke blinked multiple times in confusion she continued. "Well, because you Prince Topher. From Cinderella? You know, Rodgers and Hammerstein? Come on Zeke, you're gay you should know this!"

"Hey, excuse me, Laurie," her brother said, clearly offended. "I'm gay, but-"

"Not Broadway gay," Laurie finished his sentence for him. "I know, Zeke, I just figured you'd get it."

"I did get it the second time," Elliot chimed in to ease the tension, surprising the siblings.

"You know Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella?" Laurie asked in amazement.

"Yeah, but I haven't seen it for years. My mom used to watch it with me when I was a kid," he explained, rather self-conscious.

"Oh, that's nice!" Laurie exclaimed, clearly not catching Elliot's tension. "Our mom used to watch the Goonies with us, but I was really too young so I got scared, so I'd always sneak into Zeke's room to sleep, but he got scared too so he'd sneak into mom and dad's room so I'd be all lonely and-"

"That's great, Laurie," Zeke interrupted, somewhat rudely. Elliot got the feeling that there was something about their parents that the Buchannan siblings weren't too comfortable talking about. At least not Zeke. "Share your childhood trauma, I'm sure it's great for the musical. Stanislavskij would be proud!"

The three moved on to other topics, among them RENT, but didn't get back to their childhoods or parents.

* * *

"I have noticed that some of you aren't all that comfortable with some things you do in the musical," Elliot told the glee club. "You seem a bit out of your comfort zones and I think that it's keeping you from reaching your true potential. That's why-"

"Sorry, Mr. Scott, but not all of us are in the musical," Savvy interrupted. "I don't see why we should use Glee time on the musical. That doesn't seem quite right."

"Well, I see your point," Elliot replied, eager to tell the kids of the assignment. "But the assignment for this week will really help all of us, not just the ones in the musical. To be able to beat Music Maxima we will need to up our game and maybe do some things we're not too comfortable with."

"Like dancing," Prince mumbled.

"Like dancing," Elliot agreed. "So, this week we are having a competition. I want all of you to perform something that is out of your comfort zone. Whoever steps the furthest away from what they're comfortable with and still manages to perform, wins."

"Wins what?" Audrey asked.

"That," Elliot said, quickly trying to find a good prize for the competition. "Will be a surprise! You'll find out when a winner is picked."

"Who is the judge? You're obviously biased," Camden pointed out sending a look to Violetta.

"That will also be a surprise," Elliot answered, without a clue of who to ask.

* * *

"Sexy," a high voice sounded behind Violetta. The tan girl turned and was met by the pretty face of a cheerleader.

"S-Sorry?"

"Sexy," Lina repeated. "That's what you've got to be if we're going to make this musical work. And if you want to win that competition in Glee Club."

"How did you know about that?"

"I'm Audrey's best friend, she tells me everything that goes on in there." The shorter brunette replied quickly. "Anyway, you've got to kick up the sexappeal."

"Kick up the sexappeal?"

"God, are you deaf?"

"N-no, I just don't-"

"Listen, I need this musical to be great, because when Coach Zeke lets you perform in something outside of the cheerleaders, you had best be freakin' spectacular in it," Emilina explained. "But I can't be spectacular unless you're at least okay. So, we need to make you sexy."

"Okay, but how do I do that?"

"You're just hopeless, aren't you?" Emilina said, rolling her eyes slightly. "Just come to my house after school on Thursday and we'll help you."

"Who are 'we'?"

"Just friends," Emilina said casually just as she was about to walk away. "Don't worry, we won't kill you. Besides, I'm sure it'll make our Roger even more whipped than he already is."

* * *

"You know, I really think that the Spiderman shower curtain would look so good in our place!" Laurie said to her brother as they sat down at their table. Neither of the two were particularly good cooks, so they often ordered take-out or ate out.

"No, Laurie they wouldn't," Zeke replied. "They'd totally mess up the nice and mature vibe we're got going there. That and I don't want to shower when I can feel all those eyes staring at me."

"Spiderman only has two eyes."

"But there were like fifteen of him."

"Well, I still think it would've been awesome," Laurie said, a remarkably short answer for her. "But I'm willing to sacrifice it for the life-size cutout of William Shatner."

"What? No! No Shatner!" Zeke replied immediately. "You are not getting that thing. It is tacky and I still have to retain some of my dignity."

"Oh, please, Zekie!"

"No, Laurie. I'm sorry, but I will not have him in our apartment," the man said. "We can't afford to spend that much on a cutout of Captain Kirk, besides he's not very decorative."

"How do you know we can't afford him? And I bet you wouldn't mind if he looked like Elliot!"

"Because I handle our money, sis," Zeke told the blue-eyed woman. "If I didn't we would have an apartment full of junk and no apartment."

"Hey! Don't call my treasures junk!" Laurie exclaimed, clearly upset.

"Sorry, Laurie, I just don't see the value of a pair of plastic elf ears. And I would mind a lot more if it looked like him, we know him!"

"Hello, my name is Elliot and I'll be your waiter tonight," a rather young man in a black shirt and red-and-white striped vest said as he came up to their table. The siblings looked up as they recognized the voice of their co-worker.

"Elliot? What are you doing here?"

"You work _here_ too?"

"Hey, guys," Elliot greeted, feeling his cheeks redden. "Yes, I do work here."

"Why? Don't you make enough money teaching?"

"I do," Elliot replied, biting his lip as he tried to find a good explanation. "It's just that my girlfriend broke up with me and kind of kicked me out of our apartment-"

"Oh, we know all about being kicked out," Laurie shared, but earned herself a kick under the table from her brother. "Ow! Sorry, continue."

"So, anyway, I moved back in with my dad and I'm trying to earn some extra money so I can move out again."

"Oh, why don't you move in with us?"

"What?" Both men exclaimed, one in confusion and the other in terror.

"Yeah, I mean, our apartment is pretty big," Laurie explained. "And we could use an extra person paying the rent, right Zeke?"

"Yes, but I hardly think Elliot wants to move in with us," Zeke hurriedly shot in. "I mean, I guess he probably wants his own place."

"That was the idea, yeah," Elliot said. "But thanks for the offer, Laurie."

"Sure thing," the woman replied with a smile. "Let me know if you change your mind."

"Will do," Elliot said, somewhat awkwardly. "Now, can I take your order?"

"I don't get why _we_ have to help _her_," Audrey complained as she threw a bag of clothes on Emilina's bed. The head cheerleader had told her two best friends to come over and bring some of their clothes with them. She had not, however, told them who would try the clothes.

"Me neither," Ana chimed in as she adjusted her eyeliner from Lina's vanity.

"It's because I need her to work up her sex appeal," Lina explained, slowly as if to a small child. "That girl makes two hot angry lesbians seem boring, and I _can't_ be boring."

"Well, fine, but why do we need her to win the Glee Club competition?" Audrey continued. "I want to win that."

"Because Mousey needs some confidence," Lina replied, sorting through some of the clothes on her bed trying to find just the right colors to fit Violetta's skin tone. "If she needs to win a damn contest to get it, then she'll win the damn contest. You do want our musical to be good, don't you?"

"Yeah, sure," Audrey mumbled, looking very unenthusiastic.

"Yeah, but what about me? Why am I here?" Ana asked, sounding like she clearly had something better to do. "I don't give a damn about your musical."

"You have cute clothes," Lina replied with a shrug. "And I know you love a good make-over."

"True," Ana agreed. Just then the doorbell sounded and Lina headed downstairs to open it. The two other girls waited in silence, one brooding and the other casually inspecting her nails, until Lina returned with Violetta in tow.

"Strip," Lina told the newcomer to her terror.

"I-I'm sorry?"

"You heard me, strip." Lina repeated as she locked the door. When the girl didn't move she rolled her eyes. "Listen, if you want to get help then you need to show the doctor the problem. So strip."

Slowly and self-consciously Violetta pulled her white sweater over her head. With as slow embarrassment she began shimmying out of her jeans.

"Oh, get a move on we haven't got all day," Ana exclaimed, pulling Violetta's tank top over her head, leaving her in just her underwear. Lina and Ana walked around her inspecting what they were going to work with, while Violetta herself looked to the floor, nearly crying by embarrassment.

"A bit soft,"

"But a nice tan,"

"And cute butt,"

"Pretty curls,"

"And nice curves," Ana finished the assessment. "I think we can make this work."

"I don't think so," Violetta said, barely audibly. "I'm sorry, but I'm really not comfortable with this."

"Where do you think you're going?" Audrey spoke for the first time as Violetta tried to take back all of her clothes. She stepped closer to the shorter girl and looked down at her intimidatingly. "We have just decided to _help you,_ and when we decide to help someone they're gonna get help."

Timidly lowering her gaze Violetta moved back to the middle of the room looking like a scolded puppy.

"But I still don't understand _why _you want to help me," Violetta continued, hardly looking at the other girls. Lina sighed and took a step closer to the girl, gently sitting her down on the bed.

"Well, then let me explain," she replied looking the tan girl straight in the eye.

Lina: _Whenever I see someone_

_Less fortunate than I_

"And let's face it - who isn't less fortunate than I?" Lina said as her co-conspirators rolled their eyes.

_My tender heart_

_Tends to start to bleed_

_And when someone needs a makeover_

_I simply have to take over_

_I know I know exactly what they need_

_And even in your case_

Lina sent a disgusted look to Violetta's clothes that were carelessly discarded on the floor.

_Tho' it's the toughest case I've yet to face_

_Don't worry - I'm determined to succeed_

_Follow my lead_

_And yes, indeed_

_You will be:_

_Popular!_

_You're gonna be popular!_

_I'll teach you the proper ploys_

_When you talk to boys_

_Little ways to flirt and flounce_

_I'll show you what shoes to wear_

_How to fix your hair_

_Everything that really counts_

As Lina sang Ana and Audrey were throwing clothes, shoes and accessories Violetta's way. They then went on to pull at her hair, and hold the different fabrics up against her get a glimpse of what they'd look like on.

_To be popular_

_I'll help you be popular!_

_You'll hang with the right cohorts_

_You'll be good at sports_

_Know the slang you've got to know_

_So let's start_

_'Cause you've got an awfully long way to go:_

_Don't be offended by my frank analysis_

_Think of it as personality dialysis_

_Now that I've chosen to be come a pal, a_

_Sister and adviser_

_There's nobody wiser_

_Not when it comes to popular -_

_I know about popular_

_And with an assist from me_

_To be who you'll bee_

_Instead of dreary who-you-were: are:_

_There's nothing that can stop you_

_From becoming popu-_

_Ler: lar:_

While Lina continued to sing she helped her cohorts pick out clothes that the fourth girl tried on. Nothing seemed to suit the girls' fancy as they constantly pulled out new items from their bags and making Violetta put them on. While still picking out outfits for the sophomore they also did her makeup.

_La la la la_

_We're gonna make_

_You popular_

_When I see depressing creatures_

_With unprepossessing features_

_I remind them on their own behalf_

_To think of _

_Celebrated heads of state or_

_Specially great communicators_

_Did they have brains or knowledge?_

_Don't make me laugh!_

_They were popular! Please -_

_It's all about popular!_

_It's not about aptitude_

_It's the way you're viewed_

_So it's very shrewd to be_

_Very very popular_

_Like me!_

"Wow, V, you look amazing!" Lina exclaimed as Violetta put on a new outfit. It was a floral dress with a black belt and cute oxfords.

"I - I have to go," Violetta said, turning hurriedly to storm out of the room. Lina had unlocked the door at some point because Audrey went to the bathroom and had forgotten to lock it again, leaving Violetta's escape route clear.

"You're welcome!" Lina exclaimed with her hands on her hips, not really bothering to go after the sophomore.

_And though you protest_

_Your disinterest_

_I know clandestinely_

_You're gonna grin and bear it_

_Your new found popularity_

_La la la la_

_You'll be popular -_

_Just not as quite as popular_

_As me!_

* * *

Elliot was on his way to the guest bedroom, his current bedroom, with his hands full of sheet music. He had been busy with the musical all week, rearranging the music to be singable for the actors, writing out the most risqué songs and figuring out how to do the scenography. All the while working shifts at the restaurant to earn up some extra money to get his own place.

Just as he passed by the bathroom door it opened knocked him to his knees, sending all his sheet music flying.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Elliot!" the high voice of his stepmother-to-be, Christina said. Elliot looked up to see the tan woman dressed in nothing but a towel with red cheeks and wet hair. She kneeled beside him to help to collect his sheet music.

"Oh, it's fine, you don't have to help pick it up."

"Yes, I do. I knocked you over after all," Christina said, smiling to the younger one. Elliot almost smiled back, but noticed a pair of hairy legs exit the bathroom behind Christina. Looking up Elliot saw his father, dressed in a towel, matching Christina's. The woman didn't seem to notice him and kept picking up pieces of paper. Elliot, however, looked at the two grown-ups and quickly put two and two together.

"Ew, dad! The bathroom at four o'clock? Seriously?" Elliot exclaimed in disgust, but only got shrugs from his dad and Christina. Quickly grabbing the last few pieces of sheet music and mumbling a "thanks" to the woman her hurried the last few feet to his bedroom. As he closed the door he heard the two other adults bursting out laughing, followed by the unmistakable silence of a make-out session.

Elliott and Violetta's father and his fiancée had been like that ever since he moved in and probably before that too. It wasn't so much that he minded his dad having sex, it was more the fact that Elliot was reminded of his father's sexual activity everyday when he either walked in on them or heard them. Making a rash decision he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey Laurie, about that apartment."

* * *

"What exactly are you wearing?" a voice hissed from behind Violetta and she felt a pair of small hands drag her over to a corner. Turning she saw the pretty and clearly annoyed face of Emilina Schuester.

"My clothes?" Violetta replied timidly.

"What happened to the clothes that we found for you?"

"I just wasn't comfortable in them," the shier girl explained, biting her lower lip and looking at her shoes with sudden interest. Emilina rolled her eyes. If she was ever going to get Violetta to be all sexy lesbian with her she'd need to up her game.

"Look, I know that anything even remotely feminine scares the crap out of you," Emilina explained, giving a sharp look to the other girl's current outfit. "But, if you ever wanna get your hands on the rainbow thespian, you had best up your game. And trust me, the shy and innocent act you've got going now will grow old. Soon. And then your man will go running to the first girl that spreads her legs."

"He isn't like that," Violetta said, finally looking up, but not sounding too sure. She really didn't think Topher would do that, but then again she hadn't really known him for very long.

"Honey, he's a guy. They're all like that," Emilina said. "Besides, he already did it with Audrey, just ask him about that."

* * *

"Great job, guys!" Elliot said, although half-heartedly as Audrey and Princeton finished their dance routine and the Glee Club politely clapped. As neither of them could dance they had taken the assignment seriously, but their dancing hadn't seemed to have improved too much. "Okay, next up is Violetta."

"Oh, what's she doing?" Laurie, Elliot's guest judge, asked. The kids that were performing were huddled on the sides of the stage, concealed by a curtain.

"Sexy," Elliot replied, looking very embarrassed. His baby sister doing 'sexy' wasn't exactly what he had hoped would come out of the challenge. Before the competition every member of Glee had written their name and what they would be doing on a piece of paper and given to him. Strangely, the handwriting on Violetta's paper didn't seem to match.

When Violetta walked on stage followed by half a dozen cheerleaders she didn't look like herself either. Her hair hang in loose curls around her shoulders, she was wearing rather heavy makeup and what Elliott could only assume was a belly-dancing outfit. It was a red two-piece thing with little silver diamonds (definitely fake). The cheerleaders were wearing the exact same thing, but with black face veils instead of Violetta's red and gold jewelry.

"Hi, I asked some cheerleaders to help me out," Violetta said as the cheerleaders walked to the sides of the stage in a square surrounding Violetta and stood in poses typical for belly dancers. Violetta laid down in the middle of the stage, which seemed to Elliott like an odd thing to do, but it was probably part of the choreography. The audience couldn't quite see clearly as she moved her arms and legs slowly and fluidly as the music began, but they could see when she stood up and began singing.

_When you're ready come and get it (x2)_

_Na na na (x3) _

_When you're re-e-a-dy (x2) _

_When you're ready come and get it _

_Na na na (x3) _

She was sitting down again with the cheerleaders closer now. They were sitting in a V-shape with Violetta at the point. Elliott had never seen his sister look that confident, though she still did seemed a little awkward. The dancing was mainly done with movements of their hands, but looks effortless and very pretty.

_You ain't gotta worry it's an open invitation _

_I'll be sittin' right here real patient _

_All day all night I'll be waitin' standby _

_Can't stop because I love it, hate the way I love you _

_All day all night maybe I'm addicted for life, no lie. _

_I'm not too shy to show I love you, I got no regrets. _

_I love you much to, much to hide you, this love ain't finished yet._

_This love ain't finished yet… _

_So baby whenever you're ready… _

For the second chorus the dancing became bigger, not just hand movements. Audrey scowled while watching her fellow peacoquettes dance with the other Glee member. Sending a quick look to Topher her scowl deepened, seeing the boy's eyes looking like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"Well, that looks like a party at my house," Jay whispered to Topher who he was sitting next to. The other boy was too busy watching to look over at the Indian one, but his smile widened slightly.

_When you're ready come and get it (x2) _

_Na na na (x3) _

_When you're re-e-a-dy (x2) _

_When you're ready come and get it _

_Na na na (x3)_

_You got the kind of love that I want, let me get that._

_And baby once I get it I'm yours no take backs._

_I'm gon' love you for life I ain't leaving your side _

_Even if you knock it ain't no way to stop it _

_Forever you're mine baby I'm addicted no lie, no lie _

_I'm not too shy to show I love you, I got no regrets. _

_So baby whenever you're ready….. _

Just as they did the chorus for the third time Zeke sat down next to Laurie and Elliot, not taking his eyes off the cheerleaders. When Elliott sent him a questioning look he mumbled something about needing to make sure his cheerleaders aren't wasting their time.

_When you're ready come and get it (x2) _

_Na na na (x3) _

_When you're re-e-a-dy (x2) _

_When you're ready come and get it _

_Na na na (x3) _

_This love will be the death of me, but I know I'll die happily _

_I'll know I'll know I'll know _

_Because you love me so…Yeah! _

"Who is she?" Zeke whispered to his sister who put a finger to her lips, but still whispered Violetta's name to him. He already knew that his peacoquettes were fabulous, but the other girl was unfamiliar to him and seemed to keep up with the others, at least kind of. "She's good."

_When you ready come and get it _

_Na na na (x3) _

_When you're re-e-a-dy (x2) _

_When you're ready come and get it _

_Na na na (x3)_

The girls finished their performance posing with Violetta surrounded by cheerleaders. The audience burst into applause, with the occasional catcall from the boys. Much to Audrey's dismay Topher seemed to clap the loudest and smile the brightest.

* * *

"That was so amazing, right?" Topher exclaimed to Prince who sat beside him. Elliott had gone off with the Buchannan siblings to discuss the performances they had seen before seeing the last performance.

"Uhm, yeah. I guess so," the short boy replied sheepishly. He has thought the cheerleaders and Violetta did a really cool performance, but he hadn't really paid too much attention. He had been way too distracted by Zoey's odd behavior earlier that day. It wasn't that he minded her and Savvy being best friends, he just wish she hadn't left him so abruptly.

"You guess so? Dude, do you not have eyes?" Topher asked rhetorically, though he really thought so. "Seriously, you'd need to be legally blind to not see how hot that was!"

"Sure, but don't you mean how hot Violetta was?"

"Well, sure, but the others were good too!" Topher replied. "And stay away from my lady!"

"I am, I'm just saying," the other boy replied, once again kind of distracted. "But if she was so amazing why don't you tell her?"

"What? No, I can't," Topher said, shaking his head. "I mean, not when she's wearing that and looking like that, I mean, I wouldn't be able to talk at all!"

"Oh, wow, imagine that," Prince mumbled.

* * *

_All along it was a fever_

_A cold sweat hot-headed believer_

Savvy and Camden sat on stools in the middle of the stage, him with a guitar and her holding on to her microphone with both hands. While Camden was comfortably strumming the acoustic guitar, Savvy looking rather nervous.

_I threw my hands in the air, said, "Show me something,"_

_He said, "If you dare come a little closer."_

_Round and around and around and around we go_

_Oh now, tell me now, tell me now, tell me now you know._

She had decided to do "vulnerability" as her weakness, and though it might seem like an obvious choice for the week where weaknesses were exposed, she had needed to think about it for along time before deciding on it as her weakness. Savvy didn't like letting her walls down and singing openly about your emotions seemed more like letting the wrecking ball take down the entire house.

_Not really sure how to feel about it._

_Something in the way you move_

_Makes me feel like I can't live without you._

_It takes me all the way._

_I want you to stay_

While the pair sang Audrey felt like a needle was slowly being pushed into her heart. It was a sharp, stinging kind of pain. Blinking back tears she looked at anything other than Topher.

**It's not much of a life you're living**

**It's not just something you take – it's given**

Audrey felt a wave of guilt wash over her. All this time she had blamed Topher for taking her virginity, but she had willingly given it to him.

**Round and around and around and around we go**

**Oh now, tell me now, tell me now, tell me now you know.**

**Not really sure how to feel about it.**

**Something in the way you move**

**Makes me feel like I can't live without you.**

**It takes me all the way.**

**I want you to stay.**

While Camden and Savvy began singing together Audrey contemplated if she could leave the auditorium unnoticed. She figured missing the end of a song she had heard a thousand times before, but no one seeing her cry was better than letting the entire glee club and most of the musical ensemble see her with her guard down and hearing the end of the song. Unfortunately she didn't think she could make it out with attracting unwanted attention.

_Ooh, ooh, ooh, __**the reason I hold on**_

**Ooh, ooh, ooh,**_** 'cause I need this hole gone**_

_**Funny you're the broken one but I'm the only one who needed saving**_

_**'Cause when you never see the light it's hard to know which one of us is caving.**_

"Damn, they're good!" Lina thought, looking sternly at the performance. The two sounded amazing together and if she was honest seeing Camden so open and vulnerable was pretty hot. She still needed Violetta to win, but there was hardly anything she could o about it.

_Not really sure how to feel about it._

_Something in the way you move_

_**Makes me feel like I can't live without you.**_

_**It takes me all the way.**_

_I want you to stay, stay._

_**I want you to stay, **__oh._

_ "_Oh my God, guys! You sound so awesome!" Laurie exclaimed when the two finished their duet. Audrey used the moments of her peers' distraction to wipe away the few tears that had escaped and put on a big smile.

* * *

"So, guys, I really think you have all done a totally awesome job on the assignment," Elliott said to the Glee members who were seated in the choir room along with the kids from the musical. Lina had insisted on being there and Topher had quickly agreed that he thought they should be there too, which resulted in all of the musical being present.

"Just cut to the chase and told us who won," Audrey interrupted, not necessarily excited to hear the news, as she knew hers and Princeton's had been the least impressing performance, but eager to get it over with.

"Right," Elliot said, throwing a glance to Laurie who stood beside him. "So, the prize will be a dinner for two at Friday's." _Where I work_. "Laurie and I have thought this through and though we think everyone did an amazing job, we have decided that the winners are…"

"Violetta!" Laurie exclaimed, not being able to hide her excitement. The other members clapped politely, with Topher and Lina looking happier than Violetta did, though she only look surprised. Topher threw his arms around her in a hug, surprising her even more and causing Audrey to roll her eyes. Lina looked smug and sent Violetta a wink and a smirk.

* * *

Songs:

Popular - Wicked

Come and Get it - Selena Gomez

Stay - Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko

I'd love suggestions for who the tribute chapter should honor, so tell me if you know of somebody.

So, hopefully the next chapter will be longer (I do realize that this one is a bit "cut to the chase"-like). So I hope you enjoyed that and I look forward to hearing what you guys thought!


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